And You Thought You Were Alone
by Kosich Raine
Summary: Kagami Watanabe is the last of her clan, her people, and the Bikuyu. Her lifelong mission is to bring back her village, while trying to conceal her identity when she trains in the Hidden Leaf. Curious boys. Secrets. ANBU. It's hard work. Can she do it?
1. Chapter 1

Okay, before we start, I thought I'd let you all know something…

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**

Although this isn't my first fanfic, this is my first Naruto fanfic. The beginning of the story will take place in my OC's village, meaning quite a handful of OCs. Only some characters from Naruto will appear in the beginning. I'm not exactly sure how the chapters will turn out, despite the fact that I have already preplanned the plot.

Actually I have one more thing to say (I hope.) I talk too much. ANYWAY! This story will have a mix romance, comedy, adventure, and action. My favorite kind of mix :]

OKAY! Now let's get rolling!

* * *

Chapter 1: The Bikuyu

Five million years ago…no, I'm just kidding. I don't know how long ago, because I don't pay attention to my sensei during history…but a really long time ago, love spread like wildfire amongst people. Bloodlines were crossed, jutsus and hidden powers were being passed along…and babies were born.

Five of those babies are my brothers, my sister, and me. Apparently, some gnarly mating happened, meaning DNA mixing and chromosome switching, so all my siblings and I were born with special and very unique powers. Each of us has a certain animal-spirit-thing that lives in our subconscious mind, plus, a certain element or power along with the animal spirit.

For example, my sister, Chiyo, (she was named after this really old lady I don't remember), she has the spirit of a super massive bird, I think it's called a phoenix. The phoenix has an immense amount of fire, so fire is Chiyo's element. She's the youngest of us five by the way. Despite the fact that she's the shortest and known for her cute looks, she's a beast on the inside. I don't mean it in the way that she's a ravaging creature, but she'll burn your…knee…if you irritate her.

The second to youngest is my brother, Taoru. His animal is the taurus. I think you can figure out the connection between his name and his animal…anyway, his elements are earth and…nature? Nature meaning plants and trees and flowers and fungus and all that. He has super awesome strength, even though he's the skinniest thing I've ever seen. He's sort of quite too.

The second to oldest is my brother, Daisuke. His animal is the snake. His elements are poison and healing. Although, I wouldn't consider healing to be an "element" but whatever. Daisuke is one of the most sneakiest and clever and shrewd people I know. Actually, I take that back. He is the most sneakiest, clever, and shrewd person I know. He's pretty much the prank master.

The oldest of us all is Roji. He's got the darkest aura around him, and he's….distant…from almost everyone. He's also extremely serious. As far as I know, I'm the only person he's close to. One day, he told me that I was the only person he wanted to have anything to do with. He gave the smallest smile after that, so I suppose he meant that in a good way. I guess the fact that he's got the element of death, demons, and darkness… explains his behavior. And his animal spirit….is the horse. Everything you think and know about horses will change when you meet my brother. I never looked at a horse the same way after I saw Roji's jutsus…

And last of all, there's me! I'm the kid in the middle of all my siblings. I felt like explaining about myself last because…well just because.

My name is Kagami. I have the spirit of a wolf inside me and people say I have the most unique yet strange power….mirrors. I felt left out after Chiyo was born, because all my other siblings have easy elements: fire, earth and nature, darkness, and poison. Then there was me. Mirrors. Roji says that I'm the most special and that I have the potential to be the strongest of the five of us. I don't believe that one bit. I mean, I've seen what Taoru is capable of with his amazing strength. And Chiyo with her fury, Daisuke with his deadly traps and poison, and Roji's demons. Me…the strongest? I will reflect your ugliness in my mirrors! And your self-esteem will be crushed!

Yes…I'm totally the strongest.

However, once my father, Lord Saiyon, put me under Yokotoro-sensei's teaching, I felt better about my "special" power of mirrors. In fact, I can do things that will blow your mind. Except…Yokotoro-sensei thinks my mirrors can't reflect ugliness. I think he's lying.

So what do they call us? The five of us, all who happened to be siblings under one father and mother, that were the results of whacky bloodline mixing?

We are the Bikuyu.

Yes, we are special in some ways, but technically, we are the same as those who possess kekkei genkais. Our animal spirits have never come out before, so we aren't super dangerous or super powerful or anything. We know we have the spirits, but we've never used them, not to mention that we don't know how.

We, meaning us five, live pretty normal lives. Normal ninja lives that is, so we aren't massively different. We live in the village hidden in the valley, Hikunakure. Roji is a chunin, at fourteen years old. Daisuke is twelve and a genin. I think he's going to enter the chunin exams in one year. I'm not a genin yet, but I will be soon! I'm ten so I've still got time. Taoru is nine, and Chiyo is eight. They are training to become genin sometime, but only after I become one.

We're all still pretty young so nothing exciting is going to happen until Daisuke enters the chunin exams, or until I become a genin. Until that time comes, it's all training…training…and training.

So see, we aren't that different. Yes, we receive individual training from different senseis rather than going to the academy like most kids. But even still, it's not like we bear something so valuable that our lives would be something other than normal.

Or so I thought.

* * *

Yay! First chapter done! Not that exciting, but I had to get introductory knowledge in so you guys wouldn't be confused later on.

The next chapter will most likely be interaction between my OCs. The chapter after that may be when things start getting "interesting." I'm currently working on the second chapter, I will probably post it tomorrow.

I'm really looking forward to the rest of the story. I hope you all are too :]


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER: I HAS NO NARUTO PROPERTIES. MASASHI KISHIMOTO HAS! **

Alrightey, second chapter! I got it up earlier than I planned.

Enjoy the peace while it lasts…

* * *

Chapter 2: Yokotoro's Thoughts

"YOKOTORO-SENSEI!"

"Wha-"

"BONZAIII!"

Yokotoro grunted as he caught his student in his arms.

Kagami gave her sensei a big cheesy smile.

"Hi, sensei! Can we get ramen today?"

Yokotoro sighed. He set his student on the ground.

"No matter how many times you use that jutsu on me, I don't think I'll ever get over it… Having my student fall out from nowhere and onto me everyday can be-"

"Sensei! You told me that by practicing my jutsu, I'll get better at it everyday. So that's exactly what I'm doing."

Yokotoro sighed again.

_So this is what I get for training a Bikuyu…it doesn't seem as rewarding as it did when I accepted the job…_

"Yokotoro-sensei, turn your frown upside down! Or else I'll use my ugly reflection jutsu on you!"

Her sensei blinked. Then he did smile.

"Haha, alright then."

He looked over at a ramen stand, then pointed at it.

"Now, what did you say about ramen?"

Kagami grinned.

* * *

"Just because I'm being nice now doesn't mean you can slack off in your training later alright?"

Kagami chewed then swallowed a mouthful of noodles.

" 'Course not."

"Alright, good."

Yokotoro watched his student eating her ramen. She was a handful. Not to mention very childish. He remembered back when Lord Saiyon called a meeting for five chunin together.

_"Good evening, everyone. It is good to see that all of you have made it. I have a request to make of the five of you. You see, I have decided to put my sons and daughters under your training, individually. I have chosen each of you, specifically, to train each of my sons and daughters. I believe each of you have something that will help my children reach their full potential as the Bikuyu."_

_The five chunin were unsettled. Training the Bikuyu was an honor, but how would they do it, and which child would they train?_

_"I see worry in your eyes. Please, if you do not feel comfortable with this, you may back out now."_

_One of the chunin stepped up and spoke._

_"Excuse me for the interruption, my lord, but which child will each of us train?"_

_Lord Saiyon cleared his throat._

_"I will tell you which of my children you will train only if you accept this request. This is to see if you are ready for what may come, and if you will be committed."_

_Yokotoro furrowed his brows. He mentally prepared himself for his decision, and remembered why he was here._

_This is my chance…whether I get the depressed boy or the prankster, I'm still going to accept this. I have to! This is my mission…I must do it._

_Yokotoro raised his hand._

_"I'll do it, my lord."_

_Lord Saiyon raised his brow._

_"Very well then. And what about the other four of you?"_

_The other four chunin glanced at each other, then at Yokotoro, then at Lord Saiyon._

_"We'll do it, too."_

_Lord Saiyon smiled._

_"Very well, very well. Come here tomorrow morning and I will introduce to you the child you will be training."_

_The five chunin nodded their heads and began to leave._

_"Oh, and one more thing."_

_They turned around to face Lord Saiyon. He smiled again._

_"Come prepared."_

* * *

Yokotoro pondered on the memory while staring into his ramen bowl.

_Did I come prepared?_

He looked at Kagami again. She was still eating.

_I was definitely not prepared for her jutsus…_

He remembered the first time he taught her the basics. The day after that, she began creating her own jutsus, and thus, the teleportation jutsu was born.

He shook his head slowly. Along with the birth of the teleportation jutsu, came a world of shock and surprise. Kagami was able to travel through space and time by summoning a mirror and walking into it. She would choose a destination and would arrive there by appearing out of nowhere, stepping out of another mirror.

As far as he knew, no one could see Kagami's mirrors except for her. That's why he'll never know when she'll appear, and where she'll appear. Although, Yokotoro started to catch on to her pattern of where she'd appear. First above him, then falling into his arms.

As for the "when", he had no clue.

_That jutsu may be annoying at times…but it'll definitely come in handy for Lord-_

"Hey sensei, are you alright?"

Kagami waved a hand in front of his face.

"Huh? Oh…yes. I'm fine, Kagami. I just…I was just lost in a thought for a moment, that's all."

"Mkay. Oh, I'll pay for my ramen today."

"Oh...alright then."

Yokotoro sighed and furrowed his brows.

_If I wasn't on this mission…I never would have thought of hurting you once…You're never going to forgive me for what I'm about to do, Kagami…_

* * *

Dun dun dunnnn….What's to come? Next chapter coming soon.


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER: YO NO TENGO NARUTO. MASASHI KISHIMOTO TENGO! **

Okie dokie, here's the third chapter.

Anyways, a little interaction between OCs, then comes the "interesting" part….

* * *

Chapter 3: Not the Norm

"Kagami. Kagami."

Roji gently nudged his sister.

"C'mon, wake up."

She flinched, but didn't open her eyes.

"No…but, Papa Saiyon…but…but I didn't clog the toilet…no! It was Daisuke!"

Roji raised an eyebrow.

Kagami rolled over with her back towards Roji.

"But I don't want to teleport the poo…what if it lands on someone in the village? Everyone knows I can teleport things with my mirrors…They will be mad at me! But even worse, what if it gets stuck in the dimension I travel through? I'll have to swim through it each time I teleport! That's nasty, Papa Saiyon, I don't want to do it!"

Roji rolled his eyes.

"Kagami, wake up. You're gonna be late for your training today."

Kagami shot up into a sitting position.

"OKAY FINE, I'LL DO IT!" she yelled.

Roji's eyes widened into a _WTF _look.

Kagami whipped her head around to face her brother.

"...You heard nothing. I was practicing my acting skills! I know you think they're amazing, because I see the look on your face."

Kagami flung herself out of bed and into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Roji stood by her bedside with a sweat drop.

"…Your welcome."

* * *

Kagami rushed into the kitchen to grab something to eat. She saw a brown bag on the table with her name written on it.

"Kagami,

Have fun training today.

Papa Saiyon."

"That's weird…he's never done that for me before…I wonder what's inside…"

She walked over to the table and took a peek.

"OH MY GOSH! RAMEN!"

* * *

Lord Saiyon cleared his throat.

"Daisuke, I'm extremely disappointed in you. I never thought you would go this far with your pranks."

"Father! I told you already, it's not me!"

Lord Saiyon slammed his palm on his desk.

"This is very serious, Daisuke! People are out there, getting seriously hurt, because of you! Our ninja are falling dangerously ill as we speak! Why are you doing this?"

"FATHER! Listen to me, I would never do anything like this! Yeah, I play pranks on them, I'll admit that, but I'd never want to hurt them! I don't know what's going on!"

Lord Saiyon furrowed his brows.

_Daisuke is usually clever with his acting…and if he's lying, he's doing a good job covering it…but something about right now….something is different...Is he telling the truth?…_

"What do you know about this?" he asked.

Daisuke heaved a relieving sigh. His father may believe him. And this time he was telling the truth. He never told the truth before. Not before his father threatened to punish him.

"I only know a little. They've been appearing out of nowhere, and they're biting our ninja for no reason."

Lord Saiyon gripped his hands on top of his desk.

"…Have there been any incidents with the village people?"

Daisuke frowned. "…No."

"And the children training at the academy?"

"No."

"…And what about your siblings? Have they run into them?"

Daisuke widened his eyes.

"Actually…Chiyo was almost bitten…but she killed it right before it bit her…I'm not sure about Kagami and Roji. But…Taoru…he's the only one…that's been… bitten…"

"WHAT? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER?"

"Ahh! Father! Please…"

"WHERE IS HE?"

"He's…he's in the hospi-"

"Come!"

Lord Saiyon pulled his second eldest son out of the office with him and speed walked towards the hospital.

Ominous thoughts raced through Daisuke's head as they exited the main building. He frowned.

_I wish I understood what's happening, too…Who else can use my power? Who would want to frame me?…Why would they want to? I can't think of one person that would…And why would they use the one animal I'm bonded with?…Why would they use…snakes?_

* * *

Oh ho ho. What is going on?

Why are there SNAKES biting the valley ninja? Even more so, why are they targeting only ninja? And even more superbly so, the only children targeted are the Bikuyu...coincidence?

And why did Lord Saiyon pack Kagami a lunch when he never has before? Is it really ramen that's inside her bag?

Next chapter…"The Man Behind the Plan"


	4. Chapter 4

A thank you to Zetsubel for the first review on my story! :D And by the way, yes I have had those dreams before…xP

Anyway, I'm sorry to those of you who have read the last chapter. That chapter is NOT "The Man Behind the Plan", it's supposed to be "Not the Norm". THIS chapter is "The Man Behind the Plan". I just wanted to clear things up a bit :D

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**

So before we begin, I want to give a heads up about the beginning part of this chapter. An unidentified man's voice is speaking for the first section of the chapter. I say unidentified because he will be revealed…at the end of the chapter.

I will probably do 1st person narration throughout the story at the beginning of chapters, sort of like what I did with chapter 1. I'll let you guys know who is speaking before the chapter begins.

So without further ado, or b-do, or c-do…:]

Let's begin!

* * *

Chapter 4: The Man Behind The Plan

The Hidden Valley Village, Hikunakure…

It wasn't so special back then…It didn't hold any special power. It didn't have extraordinary ninja. It had never participated in any of the ninja wars.

Hikuna has never declared war on any other village, but no village has declared war on it either. Quite a peaceful place to be then, it would only be logical to think that.

But why? Could it be that…they are hiding something? Hmm…no. That's not likely. In fact, they don't have anything to hide. After all, they are not a very large village. Perhaps larger than the Hidden Star Village, but Hikuna doesn't have something valuable like the powerful star of the Hidden Star Village.

That is…not until now.

Hikunakure was a rather normal village. They had clans like all the others, with the Watanabe clan leading the village. They had ninja to guard their village, but rather…weak ninja I must say. The ninja were only there to protect the village from everyday thieves and beasts.

But now…now everything has changed!

They have become stronger…much stronger. Because of these five children…And in my case, this is an opportunity I cannot miss.

I could care less about the village…In fact, I think I'll just destroy it. The valley ninja will only get in my way…because what I want…the only thing I want from that village…is the Bikuyu.

* * *

Kagami dashed past the wheat fields with the wind blowing on her face. She looked up at the sky.

_Ahh, what a beautiful d-_

Something wasn't right. Something didn't feel right.

She slowed down to a jog then completely stopped, standing in the middle of the dirt road. She continued to look up with a puzzled look on her face.

_Is it the sky? The sun? Maybe the clouds?…that…aren't…there…?_

She put up her hand to shield her eyes. It was something about the sun…

_I'll have to ask Papa Saiyon about this later…maybe he'll know something about it._

Kagami resumed dashing towards her training area, where she would meet Yokotoro.

* * *

Chiyo sat by her brother's bed in the hospital. She gently petted his hair.

"Taoru…please…please be alright…"

Taoru faced the ceiling, eyes half closed.

"The snake bite wasn't that severe, was it? You're not going to…to…"

He turned his head to face his sister. His eyes were watery.

Chiyo's lower lip started quavering. Her eyes became watery as well. She grabbed his hand and tucked her head into his side.

She started to cry.

Taoru flinched. He never saw his sister cry before.

She was always so tough, so proud, so independent. To see her cry like this was unbearable.

The door slammed open. Lord Saiyon came thundering in, dragging in Daisuke with him.

"Daddy?" Chiyo gulped down her tears and quickly wiped her face.

Taoru blinked. "Father…"

Lord Saiyon nodded his head, silently greeting his children. He glared at Daisuke then pointed at Taoru.

"Daisuke, I didn't put you in medical training for fun. Tell me what Taoru needs to be cured!"

Daisuke flinched as his father shoved him towards the bed. He stepped towards Taoru's bedside.

Daisuke patted Chiyo's head, then started to work on Taoru.

A green glow emitted from his hands as he put them on Taoru's body.

"Hey bro…I'm…I'm sorry…"

"…It wasn't your fault."

Worry crawled all over Daisuke's face. Chiyo tried to keep her tears inside.

Lord Saiyon observed his children. He saw into them.

_Chiyo has never cried before. Taoru has never let his guard down, yet he was bitten by a mere snake. And Daisuke…he may seem good for nothing...but he knows all about medicine...yet..._

Daisuke turned to face his father.

"Father, there's…there's no cure…I can't find any way to reverse this…"

Lord Saiyon frowned. Deep lines like none other were carved into his forehead.

_Just as I had thought...he doesn't know how to heal him either..._

_

* * *

_

"Demon horse!"

A horse made of dark violet flames and red eyes raced towards the advancing snake. The horse jumped through the air and successfully landed on the snake, holding it down with its front hooves.

The snake wildly writhed about, then suddenly dropped dead.

The demon horse picked up the dead snake with its mouth, devoured it whole, then vanished.

Roji's blank face turned into a frown.

_Snakes?…Daisuke wouldn't be stupid enough to do this…Why are there snakes in the village? I wonder…does Kagami know about this?_

_

* * *

_

"YOKOTORO-SENSEI!"

Yokotoro looked up.

_Oh no…_

"Wheeeee! OOF!"

Kagami landed on top of her sensei's back.

"Thank you, Kagami…for shoving my face into the ground."

"Oh, no no. Don't thank me, sensei! It was the ground that came up to you. It wanted to give you a kiss!"

Yokotoro growled.

"OH! By the way, I got ramen for lunch!"

She held up a brown bag with the shape of a bowl inside it.

Yokotoro grunted.

Kagami crawled off of her sensei, then rolled onto the ground. She lay next to him, but facing the sky.

_The sun…again…what was with it?_

A bush rustled.

Kagami quickly got up, then stared straight at the bush.

"Sensei…What was that?"

Yokotoro got up and rubbed his neck.

"What was wh-"

Yokotoro looked at the bush and widened his eyes. He saw two yellow eyes, smiling at him.

He gritted his teeth.

_Now? Of all times?_

"Kagami…Come back in fifteen minutes. I just realized I have to take care of some…business…"

Kagami raised an eyebrow. The word "business" erased her thoughts on the rustling bush.

"Take care of…business?…What kind of-"

The light bulb turned on. She grinned.

"Right! Gotcha, sensei."

Kagami dashed off.

Yokotoro groaned and sighed.

A voice came from the bush.

"Now look what you've done. That Bikuyu was the hardest to find."

Yokotoro grunted. He turned his attention to the yellow eyes in the bush.

"Why are you so worried? She has the ramen with her."

The voice laughed.

"You have a point. Although, finding her…and seeing her in person, I find that more interesting. And more satisfying as well. Especially since she is a hard one to track. It's rare these days to find someone who is hard for me to find. Anyway…I need to have a little chat with you."

* * *

Kagami rushed into her father's office.

"PAPA SAIYON!"

She wanted to ask about the sun, but the office was empty.

"Huh?…Where'd everyone go?"

She walked over to his desk and found an envelope half opened. It read "IMPORTANT" on it.

"Hmm…"

Kagami always looked into her father's mail, whether if it was important or not. "IMPORTANT" always made her day more interesting though.

"Well, if he's not here, and I don't know where else he'd be...I guess I have nothing else better to do."

She set down her packed ramen on the desk, then opened up the rest of the envelope and took out a letter. Before she read it, she looked at the clock. She only had a few minutes to read, so she set a timer for three minutes. She didn't want to be late for her training.

"To Saiyon

From Sarutobi

Greetings, old friend. I couldn't help but label this letter as important! I wanted you to read this letter as soon as you saw it. It has been awhile since we've last spoken! How have you been doing? How have your children been doing? I hope you're all doing well."

Kagami blinked. Sarutobi? Who was that? Was this letter really important? She continued to read.

"Do you remember the boy I spoke to you about the last time? The one with the fox spirit? He has become such a handful lately."

Kagami blinked once again.

_There's…others like us? Someone with a fox spirit? So we're not the only ones…cool!_

She read on.

The letter continued talking about old times, back in the days, blah blah blah. She imagined an old man's voice inside her head, blabbing on and on.

"Today, I told my grandson about circles around the sun. Have I ever told you about the circles? They're an omen. An omen of snakes."

_BEEP BEEP BEEP!_

Time up.

Kagami vigorously shook her head. The words from the letter were shaken out.

"Well, interesting letter, old man, but I better get going. I'll read you later."

She dashed off, the air from her sudden movement swooshing the letter off the desk and onto the ground. She forgot her ramen as well.

The packed ramen poofed and a snake appeared. It hissed at the door which Kagami exited through, then slithered down to the ground where the letter was. The snake studied the letter for a bit, and it looked as if the snake didn't like what it saw, so it gobbled it up.

Unfortunately, the letter was important, unlike what "Sarutobi" intended it to be.

Because in the belly of the snake, lay three vital words of the letter…

"Beware of Orochimaru."

* * *

And now you know…the man behind the plan is…OROCHIMARU!

He's not even a MAN, he's like…an OLD man, right? Since he switches bodies and whatnot…therefore he's actually 50 years old, but appears young, which I find a bit disturbing….

Anyhow, I hope that chapter wasn't too long. I tried reducing it as much as I could without missing any important parts.

Next chapter…"Ugly Reflection Jutsu Gone Wrong"


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**

Oh, my goodness, how long has it been? Sorry about the super long delay. I've been seriously busy with schoolwork and break dancing and stuff like that. But hey, now I'm back. For a bit at least. Anyways…shall we continue? I think we should continue…:]

* * *

Chapter 5: Ugly Reflection Jutsu Gone Wrong

A breeze blew by, carrying leaves as it left the valley.

"Yokotoro…go and prepare for the next step in our plan. I will wait here for the child…"

"Uh…Y-yes, my lord."

* * *

Lord Saiyon furrowed his brows. He crossed his arms while he paced around the hospital room.

He suddenly halted and barked, "Daisuke! How much longer do we have before the poison completely takes over Taoru's body?"

Daisuke hurriedly diagnosed Taoru's body again, the green glow searching for the answer. His face was covered in nervous sweat.

"He has…five days, at best…"

Chiyo gasped. She tried keeping her tears in, the lump growing larger and larger in her throat. The struggle was seen on her face.

Lord Saiyon growled. Daisuke cursed under his breath.

"Where is Kagami? And Roji?" Saiyon questioned.

None of the children knew.

"Chiyo! Go with other ninja and get them to come here, quickly! Daisuke, I want you to gather up the best of our medical ninja. We're going to find a cure for him!"

"Yes, father!" Chiyo croaked, the lump still in her throat. She rushed out the door. No one but Taoru saw the single tear that fell from her face.

"Yes, father!" Daisuke replied, worry and determination in his eyes. He, too, hurried out the door, running the other way down the hall.

* * *

Kagami formed hand signs, dashing into a summoned mirror.

_Hmm…where is Yokotoro-sensei…it's been about fifteen minutes. I hope I don't run into him while he's doing his "business"…_

Within the dimension, she saw the back of a figure at about the same spot where she left her sensei.

_Oh! That must be him…I wonder if he's doing his "business" in the middle of the road?…Well, this time I think I'll pop out from behind him…._

She grinned…maliciously.

_And I'll use my Ugly Reflection jutsu!_

She practiced an evil laugh inside her head.

_MUAHAHA!_

More hand signs. Kagami hopped out of her mirror, appeared behind her sensei, and performed another set of hand signs.

"UGLY REFLETION JUTSU!"

As the figure turned around, Kagami threw her head back and executed her evil laugh.

"MUAHAHAHAHA! Take _that_, Yoko-"

"Well what have we here?"

Kagami shrieked. This was the first time, ever, her jutsu actually worked. Physically. In front of her very own eyes.

"OH MY….! Sensei…Your hair grew so long! And changed it from brown to black! And your eyes! They turned into a puke yellow!"

The man, who Kagami thought to be Yokotoro, growled.

"And your skin, sensei! It turned so WHITE! In the name of the wolf that's inside of me that I don't even know what it can do…sensei…YOU'RE UGLY!"

Kagami's eyes shined. It _worked_!

Instant anger burned in the man's "puke yellow" eyes.

"So…so…SO! YOU are the foolish child I've been searching for, along with your brothers and sister! YOU are the one, who's supposed to have the most potential! YOU! With the foolish attitude and big mouth! You. Are. Kagami Watanabe!"

The man angrily pulled out a small photograph of a young, white-haired girl with blue eyes. He compared the girl in the picture, with the girl standing in front of him. Then, he cooled down.

Meanwhile, Kagami stared in horror at the man. Her Ugly Reflection Jutsu did not work as she thought it did. But worse, just who was he? And where was Yokotoro-sensei?

Thoughts spun around her head too quickly. She couldn't comprehend the situation whatsoever.

"Um…I…Uh…Yes. How…How do you know my name? What…What are you doing here? Just who are you? What's your name? Where's Yokotoro-sensei? Why are you so UGLY?

The man growled again.

"Well, if you really must know, first, I am-"

"YES! I do want to know! That's why I asked you in the first place!" Kagami spoke, matter-of-factly.

The man growled louder and more frustrated.

"FOOLISH CHILD! I AM-"

"KAGAMI! Kagami! Are you here?"

Chiyo's voice and others were heard from afar.

He sighed. How many times did he have to be interrupted?

"I suppose now isn't the time for you to know who I am. Fortunately for me, I already know who all of you are. But unfortunately, I must go because you have some company coming along. Until next time, Kagami."

The man cackled a laugh, more evil than any laugh Kagami could make, and stuck out a disgustingly long tongue that was probably long enough to wrap around his whole "ugly" face.

And with a "poof" he was gone. Nothing remained except a drifting white smoke.

Among the pool of thoughts she had in her head, Kagami spoke out a few that needed to be spoken.

"First of all…he didn't tell me squat about himself. Second, I can make myself disappear way better than that. I don't leave smoke behind. What kind of a ninja leaves traces of himself after he disappears? Third, how can a person have a freakishly long tongue like that?"

Then all humor left her.

_What…is going on?_

Chiyo and two adult ninja appeared next to Kagami. Chiyo was the first to speak.

"Kagami! Father needs us at the hospital, now!"

Kagami blinked. "Chiyo…"

"I need to find Roji, too! Please hurry, I'll see you back at the hospital!"

Chiyo and the other ninja left as quickly as they came.

Kagami stood alone on the dirt road. So many things were spontaneously happening out of nowhere.

What is going on?…

The valley wind blew.

* * *

Kind of a dramatic ending there…Kind of…I wanted to end the chapter the same way it began, haha!

Anyways, hope you liked it. It's been awhile so it took a bit for me to refamiliarize (is that even a word?) myself with the story.

I hope I have time to continue it, it's really fun and enjoyable for me to write stories for others to read.

SO! Until next time! Ciao!


	6. Chapter 6

AND WE'RE BACK! After too many days I must say! D:

But it is true! It's been awhile, guys, and I'm glad to have finally returned to writing :] I want to thank you all for your previous reviews and reading, and favorites and alerts. So now that I've come back, I hope that I won't disappoint you, and my goal is to COMPLETE THIS STORY!

I want to thank GirXzimXfanatic and Jerseykitty for reviews back in March and April of 2010!…I know it's so late…I'm sorry, please don't hurt me! :[

But still, I thank you all for your support and for reading my story :] I am truly grateful.

**DISCLAIMER: Still don't own it...**

And without further ado…

* * *

Chapter 6: The Deal

Roji blasted through the hospital door, along with Chiyo and the two other ninja.

"Father! We're here!" he said, his voice strong and authoritative, yet worried. He saw Taoru laying in the bed, eyes glazing over. "What's going on?"

Lord Saiyon turned around from facing the window.

"Roji. Chiyo. Good. We…" He paused, glancing at his youngest son occupying the hospital bed, then took a breath. "Taoru is in danger. The village may be in danger as well. I will tell you the details once everyone gets here. You two may leave."

The two ninja that accompanied Chiyo in their search for Roji and Kagami nodded simultaneously, then poofed away.

"Where is Kagami?" Lord Saiyon asked, raising his voice slightly.

The sliding of shoes on the floor was heard.

"PRESENT!"

Everyone turned to look at the door, expecting to see her. However, Kagami had slid too far, and passed the door as she yelled "PRESENT!"

Through reflex, she managed to latch a hand onto the framing of the door, and stopped sliding. After she caught herself, she walked into the room, panting and breathing heavily through her mouth.

"I…ran here…as fast as…I could. Curse these…waxed floors…I-"

She realized that nearly her whole family was in the room, and one of her brothers was in the hospital bed.

"Taoru! What happened?" she cried.

The boy himself had come to realize that the room was gradually being filled with more and more people. He looked at the faces of his beloved siblings.

"Chiyo…Roji…Kagami…"

The three had already gathered around their brother's bed, expressions of pain, shock, and worry streaked across their faces.

"Who did this to you…?" Kagami whispered.

Lord Saiyon watched his children, and mentally counted four. _There is one more left… Daisuke, where are you?_

As if he had summoned him, Daisuke appeared at the door, along with four professional medical ninja.

"Father! I brought them!"

"Very good. You four! Find out what is ailing my son! I want a full report when you are done. Children, come here!"

Although the room wasn't very large, there was enough room for one section to be occupied by Taoru and the four ninja examining him, and another section for Lord Saiyon to stand and speak to his four other children.

"My sons and daughters…you all know that there have been strange things happening around our village. One of these things is your brother being bitten by a snake, which is why he is lying in bed now. There have been snakes wandering around our village, attacking certain people. However…" he cleared his throat, then frowned. "We do not know why these things are happening."

Roji had his eyebrows furrowed, and had his arms crossed. Daisuke was biting his lower lip, while shifting his weight from one foot to another. Kagami kept her eyes on the ground, while putting a comforting arm around Chiyo, who was trying her best to keep the tears in.

Roji was the first to respond.

"Daisuke."

Daisuke jumped, startled from his older brother's cold and eerie voice.

"Bro, you know it's not me! I-"

"I know," he said, quietly cutting him off. "Just listen. You have a connection with snakes, right?"

Daisuke didn't know if his brother was setting up a trap. He stuttered, "Y-yeah. So what?"

"Your snakes have a different chakra then the ones that have been invading our village. Do your snakes know where the enemy snakes have been coming from? Or why?"

He slapped a hand to his forehead. "I never even thought about talking with my snakes! We'll find out right now!"

Daisuke clapped his hands together to form a hand sign. "Summoning Jutsu!"

_POOF!_

Two snakes appeared on the ground, a green one with a wriggly blue stripe down its back, and a light purple one with tiny blue spots. Daisuke bent down and began speaking with his summons, occasionally nodding his head and frowning.

Kagami suddenly lifted her head, widening her eyes. She removed her arm from around Chiyo's shoulders, and put both hands around her mouth.

" 'An omen of snakes…'" she whispered.

Her father and her siblings stared at her. Daisuke looked up from his conversation with his snakes.

"Kagami…what did you say?"

" 'An omen of snakes!'" she repeated, louder this time so everyone could hear. She ran over to the window in the hospital room, opened it, and immediately looked up. There were rings around the sun.

She turned around, facing her family. "Papa Saiyon! I read one of your letters earlier today, and it said that if there were circles around the sun, it meant that it was an omen of snakes!"

At this moment, a ninja ran into the room, panting like Kagami had when she first entered. It was Yokotoro.

"My lord! Please excuse me! But this urgent!" he announced, slightly hunched over and holding onto the doorframe for support.

Lord Saiyon's face turned dark. "What is it?"

Yokotoro's eyes flickered, and he said in a grave tone, "There's someone outside in the village square that has requested to see you."

The leader of the Watanabe clan closed his eyes. _Of all times…and who could this person be? What could this person want? _

His eyes shot open, an imaginary drum beat once to intensify the dramatic moment. He turned to the medical ninja working on Taoru.

'You four! Continue searching and look for a cure!" He turned to his four children, one who was still at the window. "Roji! Daisuke! Kagami! Chiyo! Stay here until I come back!"

* * *

It was late afternoon, the sky had an orange tinge, and the sun had cast shadows on the various streets of the village. No wind blew. The air was still, almost stale. News of the snakes had spread, creating an unsettledness in what was once a peaceful village.

There was a murmur in the village square. A small crowd had seen a mysterious man who appeared a few minutes ago, and walked right into their village. He asked for the head of the Watanabe clan, and stood on the dirt ground of the square, waiting for him.

Lord Saiyon walked up, his hat and linen cloths proclaiming that he was the one that this mysterious man had waited for. He stopped several steps away from this man, seeing as how he couldn't trust any strangers at this time.

"I am Lord Saiyon, the leader of the Watanabe clan, and this village. Who are you, and why are you here?" he bellowed.

As creepy and sinister this new mysterious man might of looked, he spoke with a surprisingly smooth voice.

"I am Orochimaru, a former student of Hiruzen Sarutobi! If I am not mistaken, you have a strong bond with him. I have come here because I heard your son has fallen ill. I specialize in the medical area, having cured over millions of diseases and sicknesses. I felt that I could do goodwill by coming here and offering to heal your son."

Lord Saiyon's eyes widened. Was it really possible that this gruesome-looking man was a student of his best friend and former comrade?

"And what authority or proof do you have to say that you specialize in the medical department, and that you were Sarutobi's student?"

Orochimaru maliciously grinned inwardly at this.

"My sensei has sent to you a letter of recommendation about me. Perhaps, you haven't read it yet. But there is information disclosed about what I have done and my successes."

Saiyon stared into the yellow eyes of the man who called himself Orochimaru.

"I see. I will look into this letter later. However, what amount of money, or what sort of trade, do you want if you can cure my son?" he asked, raising an eyebrow, but keeping his mouth straight.

"My lord…as I have said before, I came to do goodwill. I do not wish for any form of money. However…" He paused, resisting to lick his lips, as it could have blown his cover, "It would be greatly appreciated if I could personally research and create profiles of the Bikuyu." Pretending that he didn't know that the Bikuyu were only children, not to mention _Saiyon's_ children, he continued. "I have heard that they are an impressive group of people, and I'm sure that by learning more about their powers, it would open more doors in the medicine world and allow more cures to be discovered."

It was hardly noticeable, but to the ninja eye, it was easy to see that Saiyon's eye twitched when Orochimaru mentioned "powers."

"That is your request?" Saiyon asked in a flat, but forward tone.

"Yes. That is all I wish for."

"How much time will I have to make a decision?"

"I will be leaving this land within three days. I need one day to diagnose and cure your son, and one day to research the Bikuyu. This leaves tomorrow for you to decide and to inform me of your decision."

"Very well. I will let you know tomorrow, by sunset," he replied.

Orochimaru smiled. "I look forward to our meeting tomorrow, Lord Saiyon."

And with a poof of smoke, he was gone.

It seemed like a harmless, beneficial deal. What more, Taoru could be cured by this practiced medical ninja, taught by Sarutobi Hiruzen himself! But who would have readily accepted this offer, overlooking the request of Orochimaru? He said that he only wanted to do research on the Bikuyu, to open up more of these so called doors into the medicine world. But this request was more foreboding to Saiyon than it seemed, because this involved his children. All of them.

Yet, Taoru still needed to be cured. He was on the verge of dying, _dying. _What were the chances that an offer like this would come up again within the next, and possibly last five days of his son's life?

Saiyon would rush to the hospital to tell his children what had happened, about this "deal", then he would immediately head for his office to search for the letter that Sarutobi had supposedly sent him.

Little did he know that this "letter" was a _lie. _Not only was it a lie, but the original letter was meant to prevent anything Orochimaru-related from happening. Ironically, it was eaten by one of Orochimaru's snakes, and Orochimaru himself knew this.

And little did Kagami know, who was still looking out the window, squinting her eyes against the rays of the encircled sun, that this letter would haunt and push her, for the rest of her life.

* * *

Dun, DUN, DUNNN! Guys, I can tell you right now, some serious s*** is about to go down.

I HOPE YOU LIKED IT! I enjoyed writing it. It was a bit tricky to get the suspense and intensity going, but I tried my best!

Review if you'd like, and stay tuned for the next chapter, Breaking Mirrors!


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys! So you know how last chapter, I mentioned that this chapter would be called "Breaking Mirrors"? That's actually the NEXT chapter, and it's called "Broken Mirrors" :X I'm sorry! :[

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO**

But anyways! Let's continue!

* * *

Chapter 6: Fake Sunshine

Sheets of paper fell through the air, like leaves falling to the ground, as Lord Saiyon rummaged through his office, searching for the letter.

_Where is it? Where could it be? Please let me find it…!_

He could have sworn that he had already swept through his office more than three times. Yet he still hadn't found the letter.

It was already midday, and he had searched once yesterday, after meeting with Orochimaru. Time was running out, and by sunset today, he had to make a decision. Suddenly, his head jerked up from looking at his desk.

"Kagami…didn't she say something about…?"

He recalled his daughter saying something about a letter yesterday.

"_Papa Saiyon! I read one of your letters earlier today, and…"_

Without thinking for another moment, Lord Saiyon rushed through the door to search for his daughter.

* * *

A drop of sweat ran down the side of Yokotoro's forehead.

Orochimaru turned to look at his subordinate, and asked, "Yokotoro…the time is coming. Are you ready?"

The chuunin cast his eyes on the floor of their temporary hideout. "…Yes, my lord."

"Very well. Hm hm hm…Finally, this day has come! Today is the day…WHEN THE BIKUYU SHALL BE MINE!"

* * *

Kagami raked through the piles of papers on her father's desk, throwing any paper that was irrelevant to the situation into the air.

"I know I left it _right here._"

She continued to frantically search through the office, with no success. As she held papers between her hands, she glanced out the window, then checked the time. They have already been searching for hours, and it was late afternoon now. The sunset would come within another few hours, and that was when her father had to make the decision. She remembered yesterday, when he explained to his children about the deal he was offered. Kagami went back to work, seeking with anxiety for this ever-important letter.

* * *

Back at home, Roji and Chiyo sat outside on the wooden porch, watching the sun as it made its way across the sky.

Chiyo dug her head into Roji's armpit, wanting to hide away all feelings that contrasted with her tough personality. Roji stared at the sky, attempting to will away the stress and worry of his family.

* * *

Daisuke sat in a medicine laboratory, hurriedly flipping through pages of an herbal remedy book. Vials and beakers of various substances surrounded the boy at the table he sat at. He took leaves of a certain plant and shredded it into a container, then poured a liquid on top of it. He continued to mix and stir ingredients together, attempting to concoct a cure for his brother. His eyes grew large as the mixture began to bubble and change color.

"It's reacting! It's _working_! OH MY GOD! WE'RE GETTING CLOSER!"

Daisuke swiftly added more ingredients to his new medicine, working harder and faster.

_Just hang in there, Taoru! We're almost there, buddy! _

* * *

Sunset had come. Lord Saiyon and Kagami had failed to find the letter, and it was time to make the decision.

"Father…I-"

Saiyon put up his hand, silencing his daughter. It was the first time she had called him "Father", since she had always called him "Papa Saiyon" from the time she could speak. He knew how distressed she was, but he wasn't about to let his daughter go on a guilt-trip.

"Kagami. It is sunset. I must go tell Orochimaru about my decision. Go check on Daisuke, then come meet me back at the hospital."

The young girl stood on the hardwood floor of the office, looking down at her feet. Lord Saiyon took his hand and gently patted her on the head.

"Child, do not worry. Everything will be alright," he smiled.

* * *

Dark, heavy clouds appeared from the horizon, hastily thundering towards Hikuna. An electricity crackled in the air, signaling the arrival of chaos, soon to be knocking on the door.

Orochimaru stood in the village square, in the same spot where he had been yesterday. The wind had picked up, and the sun was now blocked out by a thick blanket of oncoming clouds.

"Lord Saiyon! I see you have come. Did you find the letter? Have you made your decision?"

Saiyon had appeared, standing a distance from Orochimaru.

"Greetings…I was unable to find the letter. However, I have decided to put my faith in you, Orochimaru. Heal my son! And I shall allow you to acquire information on my children, the Bikuyu, in return!"

Well didn't a successful plan taste sweet? Orochimaru mentally cackled, but put on an act on the outside.

"The Bikuyu are your _children_? Meaning your ill son must be a Bikuyu! Our deal is sealed! Quickly! Take me to him so I can cure him!"

* * *

Meanwhile, Kagami was standing in the doorway of a laboratory, furrowing her brows.

"Daisuke? Are you in here? Hello?"

She walked into the room, observing the different glasses of colored liquids and plants that occupied several tables. There was a book at one table, opened to a page with information on poisons and their cures. But there was no Daisuke.

Kagami examined the page and noticed that certain ingredients were circled, and certain phrases were underlined. At the bottom of one page, there was a large scribbling that said, "_Taoru's cure!"_

Kagami widened her eyes. Then she looked at the large container in front of her, filled with a dark, greenish liquid. Some of it dripped down on the sides of the container, as if some of it was already taken out.

_Did he find it? Did he find Taoru's cure? Is this finished? WHAT IS HE DOING NOW? WHERE IS HE?_

She left the room in a flash and ran through the building, shouting, "DAISUKE! DAISUKE, WHERE ARE YOU? Excuse me, have you seen my brother? Yes, the naughty bad one. No? Oh, okay. DAISUKEEEEEEEE!"

* * *

Orochimaru grunted, as his hand emitted a green glow onto Taoru's head. He told Saiyon earlier that he would need one day to diagnose and cure Taoru, but he decided to change the game plan, and do the whole thing in thirty minutes. He created the poison himself, so of course he knew the cure.

"I've actually worked with this poison before!" he pretended. "It's a formidable one, but I know the cure! There is a special jutsu for this. I have practiced it many times before."

Saiyon felt the weight of a thousand worlds lift off of his heart. His son was going to be cured! Taoru will live!

Orochimaru took both of his hands and performed a series of quick hand signs, muttering words along the way. He held out his hands in front of him, over Taoru's body, then shouted, "Release!"

Purple blobs seeped out of the boy's skin, floating towards Orochimaru's pale, white hands. As more and more leaked out, Taoru's complexion gradually returned to its natural color.

By the end of the procedure, Taoru had been completely healed. He sat up from his bed, shaking his head as if he had woken up from a dream. Then he looked at Saiyon.

"Father?"

Lord Saiyon gasped, then ran to his son, wrapping his arms around the boy, and rocking him back and forth.

"Taoru! Taoru! My son, my boy! You're okay! You're alright!"

He began to cry. Taoru tightly hugged back, rubbing his face into the shoulder of his father. A beam of sunshine pierced through the clouds and made its way into the hospital room, shining on father and son. As if the moment was too good to be true, the sunshine was soon swallowed up by the ominous clouds.

Lord Saiyon picked his boy up and placed him on his back, giving him a piggy-back ride. He turned to Orochimaru with teary eyes, and smiled.

"I thank you, from the bottom of my heart, Orochimaru. I am truly grateful that you have done this. Please! Come to my house for dinner tonight. You can meet all of my children, and we can celebrate your grand success!"

Orochimaru grinned. This was going better than he had thought.

"My lord, I would be most honored."

"Excellent! Please follow me," Saiyon said. He walked out the door, with Taoru on his back. He shouted out, "MY SON IS CURED! Everyone! Taoru is cured! Spread the good news! Oh, you there. Could you please find Kagami for me? She was supposed to here, but we're going back to my house. Please tell her to come home!"

As they walked back to Lord Saiyon's house, Orochimaru secretly pulled out five photographs, mentally naming off the people in them. The first one was of a boy, with black hair and dark purple eyes. He wore a belt that wound around his head, making tufts of hair stick out. _Roji. _The second picture was of another boy, who also had black hair, but had yellow eyes. He had a smirk on his face. _Daisuke. _The third picture was of the boy in front of him, who was riding on his father's back. He had earth-colored hair, and grass-green eyes. _Taoru. _The fourth picture was of a girl who had bright red hair in high pigtails. Her red eyes blazed with fire. _Chiyo._ And last, but not least, the fifth picture was of the child who pissed him off the most. She had long, white hair and shiny blue eyes. She was madly grinning in the picture. _Kagami!_

* * *

Kagami had already searched through the multiple floors of the building, checking all of the laboratories and asking everyone there if they knew where Daisuke was. She received the same answer from everyone, that no, they hadn't seen him. Thinking that it would be a waste of time to chase after her brother where he wasn't seen, she decided it would be best to just head over to the hospital and meet with her father.

And that's exactly what she did. Except, she didn't see her father.

A nurse saw Kagami, who looked confused as she stared into the empty hospital room.

"Kagami, dear!" the nurse called.

"Oh, hello! Um…Do you know where my father and brother are?"

"Yes, I do! In fact, I have the best of news to tell you! Guess what? Taoru is cured! Your father and brother have gone home to tell your other siblings and to celebrate! He told me to tell you to come home!"

Kagami felt exhilarated. Her brother was alright. Everything was going to be okay, just like her papa said.

"THANK YOU SO MUCH!"

And with that, she whizzed home, her back to a black, overcast sky.

* * *

Dun, dun dunnnn….

Okay well…since I plan things incredibly badly, the sh-stuff that was supposed to be action-y is coming later, I'm so sorry! :[ Next chapter is…gonna be dark, so hang in there!

I know the whole beginning was filled with OC's, but…:X I can't say anything because I'll give it away.

I hope you like it…so far? :D It's taking awhile to progress . I promise we'll get going soon though!

If I'm doing badly, please message me so I can improve. I want this story to be enjoyable for you all, so if you could help me out and tell me if this is going to slowly for you, please do so! It would be greatly appreciated.

Until next time!


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO, OR BLUE OCTOBER, OR ANY OF THEIR SONGS.**

**IF YOU READ THIS, YOU WILL UNDERSTAND LATER THAT PART OF THIS CHAPTER IS SORT OF LIKE A SONGFIC. THE WORDS OF THE SONG WILL BE ITALICIZED AND SURROUNDED BY TILDAS, WHICH ARE THESE ~ ~ ~ ~ I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M TYPING IN ALL CAPS MUAHAHA!**

The song is called "Let It Go" by Blue October.

* * *

Chapter 7: Broken Mirrors

"Hello? Anybody home?"

Kagami padded through the dark house, wondering why none of the lights were on. She walked into the dining room, where she smelt the scent of iron.

A flash of lightning shot across the sky, illuminating the room for Kagami to see bodies laying on the floor.

She screamed, instantly backing up to a wall. A candle light flared up, revealing Orochimaru's face.

"Well, well, we meet again, child."

More candle lights lit up, showing the girl the faces of the people who laid around the room. Her father laid on his backside on the dinner table, a sword protruding from his ribs. Roji laid face down, near the table. Chiyo looked like she was slapped, and fainted onto the ground. Taoru was sitting against a wall, his head down. Daisuke was nowhere to be seen.

Kagami leaned backwards onto the wall, eyes split open in horror. "You…YOU! You killed…my _family_?" she shrieked. "WHY?"

Orochimaru gave her a disdainful look.

"I stuck a sword through your father, and knocked out your brothers and sister…however, they'll be dead soon anyways. But me? Kill your family? No, Kagami…you did."

Thunder boomed. A loud crash was heard outside, and huge fires ignited. There were shrill screams, and there were sounds of kunai clashing and blood being split. The village was being invaded and destroyed.

Orochimaru continued. "Look around you. Look at all of this. This is All. _Your. _Fault."

Lightning zapped. Enemy ninja were coming in, completely wrecking everything in sight. Rain began to fall.

"You were careless. Remember that letter you read a few days ago? You let that letter fall into the wrong hands…my hands."

Kagami's eyes flickered with terror, panic, shock, and dread.

"That letter could have saved your father's life. It could have saved the lives of your beloved siblings. You could have prevented me from wreaking chaos onto this village, and all of your pitiful lives!"

The rain fell harder. Thunder and lightning crashed.

"But _NO_! You chose to be ignorant and foolish, and your family fell by your own hands. They died because of _YOU!" _

Another flash across the sky, and another boom in the air, and in the hearts of those who were still alive. _Alive._

Orochimaru flicked his tongue out and slowly licked his lips, savoring the guilt-trip he pressed onto the child cowering before him.

"And how does it feel to bring down your own village? How does it feel…" He paused, listening to the screams outside, then smiled, "…to destroy your own home?"

Kagami was frozen.

"_But me? Kill your family? No, Kagami…you did."_

"_This is All. _Your_. Fault."_

"_They died because of _YOU_!" _

It was a nightmare. The whole thing had to be a nightmare. Orochimaru's words echoed through her head, ricocheting off the imaginary walls of her once innocent mind. They repeated themselves, smacking her in the face with the reality of the scene of the bodies that laid before her.

Suddenly, there was a poof of smoke. Yokotoro stepped out. He was carrying Daisuke underneath one arm. The boy appeared to be unconscious.

"Lord Orochimaru! I got him. I caught him while he was running towards the hospital, carrying some weird liquid with him. He put up a good fight, so I had to knock him out before I performed the chakra extraction jutsu on him. The only one left is-"

If it was possible, Kagami's eyes widened even more. She gazed upon her sensei, someone she looked up to, someone she trusted. She saw a different sign on his headband. There was a little song note in the center, instead of the split up V with a squiggly line going through it.

"Yo-Yokotoro…sensei…why?…" Kagami whimpered.

Yokotoro looked at Orochimaru with his mouth open, then set Daisuke down on the floor.

"You told me I wouldn't have to face her! You told me I wouldn't have to see her! You _promised_! I did what you told me to, what happened to your part of the deal?" he yelled.

Orochimaru scoffed at him. "How disrespectful! I'll finish you off after I deal with her."

He turned to Kagami and sneered at her.

"I thank you for your teleportation jutsu and your wolf spirit. In return, I'll send you to the afterlife where you can be with your family again!"

He lashed out a hand, which turned into a snake, and aimed for the girl's neck.

"NOOOO!" Yokotoro roared.

He bolted for Kagami, speedily picked her up, then raced out of the house, breaking through one of the paper sliding doors.

There was turmoil outside. People were running around, mothers with children in their arms, men hugging their wives, fleeing out of the village. Ninja was pitted against ninja. It was the Valley against the Sound.

Rain beat down as Yokotoro tore through the village, running as fast as his legs would let him. Kagami was facing what was behind her sensei, being carried in his arms. She saw sparks of blue and yellow of the kunai and swords that clashed against each other. She saw restaurants, shops, bars, bookstores, her favorite ramen shop, all go up in flames. She saw people die.

By now, Yokotoro had exited Hikunakure, running through the end of the valley, running, running, running, running not for himself, but for his student. For Kagami.

Without warning, a sharp pain bore through his leg, causing him to fall onto the muddy ground. He flipped around so he would fall on his back, and Kagami would still be intact on top. They crashed into the ground. Brown water sloshed as he tried to get back up quickly, to keep running, but then he realized his leg had been cut off. Someone was pursuing them.

"Kagami! Kagami! Get up! RUN! GET OUT OF HERE!"

The girl had her head on her sensei's chest, unable to comprehend his words. To her, his voice was distant, the rain was distant, the _pitter-patter_ on her skin was distant.

"KAGAMI! Your family is _dead_! Your village is _destroyed_! But _you're_ still _alive_! You have to run! You have to go! Get out of here and _survive_! GO AND _LIVE!_"

That was when it hit her. She sat up, and vigorously shook her head, drops of water flinging from her hair and face. Quickly, she rolled off of him, and sat next to him on the watery path of dirt. She saw that his leg was cut off, and he was coughing up blood.

_~Where do you go, when the…day is long?~_

"Sensei…why…why did you save me? Why…?"

"Because he's a traitor."

A man with a silver ponytail and glasses jumped down from a tree. There was a music note on his headband.

"Kabuto," Yokotoro spat out.

The man named Kabuto slowly walked towards Yokotoro and Kagami, a blue blade of chakra in his hand.

Kagami gasped. She was confused, and her head was in a jumble, but she wasn't about to the last person she knew die because of her. Mustering courage, she stood up in front of her sensei, her feet shoulder-width apart, and stuck her hands out to her sides, open wide.

"Don't even bother," the man with the glasses said. "He's about to die anyways. And why would you want save him? He betrayed you. He even betrayed _us._ He's a disgusting guy."

"He's _my sensei_," Kagami croaked, tears already trickling down her face.

_~And where does your heart beat and, who is wrong?~_

Yokotoro wheezed, and coughed up more blood. His student looked back at him, then fell by his side. She held his shoulders as he uttered, "Kagami…Don't ever…lose sight…of who…you are…"

And he was gone.

Kabuto condemned Yokotoro. "How pitiful."

Kagami hung her head over her sensei's face, her hair falling over him, dripping with rainwater. Tears ran from her eyes, down to the tip of her nose, and dropped onto his bloodied mouth. If he was still alive, he could have experienced her graciousness as she kissed him goodbye on the cheek.

She abruptly leaned back, craning her neck towards the unforgivable sky. She let out a heartbroken wail, a sound that no child should have to make at the age of ten.

_~Why do I feel this way? Why do I kneel?~_

Swirls of white chakra began emitting from her body. As she continued to cry, the white chakra took the shape of a wolf, and it grew larger, and larger, and larger.

_~How could I let it go? Why do I feel?~_

Kabuto widened his eyes at this.

"This is bad. I better do something about it now!"

He charged towards the girl, hands equipped with his blue chakra blades. As he prepared to take a swing at her, a white tail smashed him backwards.

He struggled to sit up, squinting with a bruised eye. A white wolf, with enraged blue eyes, stared back at him. It was colossal. Kabuto compared it with the size of Orochimaru's summoning, Manda The wolf bared its teeth, and huge amounts of saliva dropped down in front of him, splashing with the rain. The thunder rumbled and lightning sparked. It was as if extra large kunai were clashing in the dark skies above.

"What have we here?"

Kabuto looked to his left. Orochimaru had appeared.

"Lord Orochimaru! It's that girl! She started crying, and I-"

"Kabuto, you obviously do not know how to tame a beast. Let me show you."

Kagami was unconscious now, but her wolf spirit had awoken. She lay somewhere inside the flesh of this immense beast, but her feelings and emotions fed it.

Orochimaru dashed to his right, feigning a move, then whipped out a multitude of snakes. As they assaulted, the wolf only stood there, growling at its enemies. The snakes attempted to bite the beast, only to be thrown back and knocked out on the ground by mirrors.

"It's fur is made out of mirrors? How interesting!" Orochimaru crowed.

The wolf bent its head down to prepare for its attack, its coat of mirrors sticking out dangerously all over its body. It charged towards Orochimaru, who leapt backwards, then jumped forwards towards the beast's head. He took out a sword from his throat, and thrust it between the wolf's eyes. The sword crushed upon contact, and a mirror reflected the strength of the attack, blasting Orochimaru back.

"This could prove to be quite difficult," he said to himself, after he landed on his feet.

_This isn't a tailed beast…is it?_

He peeked behind the wolf, taking note of its one tail.

_No…it isn't…but nevertheless, this is an astonishing power I cannot ignore!_

As if justifying his observation, the wolf displayed its strength. Bursts of chakra discharged from the wolf's mirror coat, and the mirrors themselves flew out, aiming sharp points everywhere. It wasn't just a crazy, all-out attack, but a genjutsu as well. Whatever image hit the mirrors, it would reflect into the eyes of the enemy, and at the most confusing angles. To Orochimaru and Kabuto, it looked like it was raining up _and _down. The trees began to float and charge towards them, and the clouds were not just in the sky, but around their feet.

"Lord Orochimaru! This is insane! We have to escape!" Kabuto panicked.

Orochimaru hissed, "Hear me, Kagami Watanabe! Your power _will_ be mine!"

And with that, they disappeared in a poof of smoke, which shortly dissolved in the rain.

The wolf slowly panted, lifted its snout to the air, and howled into the black night. It was a howl that twisted the heart, that pierced the soul with melancholy and sorrow. It was the cry of a young child, whose nightmare had become reality.

For Kagami, everything shattered. Her world. Her home. Her family. Her life.

Once a mirror is broken, it will never be the same again. It can be fixed with tape, with glue, with anything. But there will always be a tiny piece that's missing, a tiny piece that can never be found, that can never be replaced. It's only a matter of time before someone comes along who wants to fix it, who wants to fill in the missing pieces, who wants to put it back together despite the pain of handling the shards of glass. The only question is…who?


	9. Chapter 9

And HELLO! I am back with a new chapter all ready for you guys! By the way, in the middle of the chapter, I threw in a bunch of random names for the sake of making a squad, you'll see what I mean. But all of them, except for one, won't come back after this chapter, so you don't have to worry about more OC's invading. Anyways…

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO.**

With that, let's move on with the story :D

* * *

Chapter 9: Breaking Dawn

"Woah."

"This is awful…I didn't expect to see this."

"None of us did."

An ANBU squad, clad in their black and silver uniform, stood at the gates-what used to be gates-of the fallen Hikunakure. Whatever reactions they had were hidden by their white and red masks as they gazed upon the aftermath of one night's chaos.

Dawn came, painting the somber sky with pinks and blues. The sun peeked over the east mountain range, slowly pouring golden light into the destroyed village. The rain from last night had put out the fires, leaving stacks of smoke lifting from blackened buildings.

The captain took a few steps into the village, looking left and right at broken windows and scattered kunai. He saw a valley ninja laying stomach-up on the ground. Bending down, he put his index finger and middle finger together and pressed them against the ninja's neck. No pulse.

He stood up, and breathed out a tired sigh. Straightening his back, he looked ahead of him, his eyes focusing on the empty air.

"Search for survivors. Be on the alert for enemy ninja."

His team responded with a quick "Yes, sir!" then poofed or dashed off their separate ways.

The captain clasped his hands together with his index fingers pointing up. He slowed his breathing, seeking for any signs of life in the area with his chakra.

Nothing.

_The Hokage…this isn't going to be easy for him…_

* * *

Shun hopped from tree to tree, scanning the ground below for anyone who might have survived. He thought he should search the area _outside of_ the village, since the rest of his team was already inside. Smart? Effective? Oh yes, absolutely. But…then again…what if his efforts were wasted and he couldn't find anyone? Darn…

_Wait, what was that?_

* * *

It was well into the morning now, and the sun shined vainly on the desolate village. A breeze of wind blew by as the ANBU captain waited for the rest of his team by the village gates. He had no luck finding anyone. Everyone here was dead, and any townspeople that fled had probably found refuge in nearby villages.

The rest of his team came back with the same results. No survivors were found.

"Where's Shun?" one of the teammates asked.

"Captain!"

And there he was. Shun ran up to the gates, with something hanging limp in his arms.

"Captain! I found someone. Look."

It was a young girl, who couldn't have been older than eleven or twelve years old. Her hair was long and white, but it was tangled and caked in dried mud. A purple bump sat on her forehead. The rest of her body sported black and brown smudges, surrounded by tiny cuts of dried up blood.

The captain widened his eyes, but no one saw it behind his fox-face mask.

_That must be…!_

"Well done, Shun." He hesitated, then said, "The rest of you didn't find anyone, correct?"

They shook their heads.

"Alright, then. We're heading back home. There's a river nearby here. We'll stop there to take an early lunch, and Aida will treat to the girl's wounds. After that, we're going to split up. Shun, Aida, and Toguchi will return to the village. Toguchi, you'll be in charge, and you'll give our current report to the Hokage. Shun and Aida, take the girl to the hospital when you get home. Ronbun, Hachigo, and I will travel to the different villages around the area and ask if they know anything about what happened to the Hidden Valley. We should return one to two days after you. Understood?"

Everyone nodded once, and replied with a "Yes, Captain!"

They headed out.

* * *

_Where am I?_

Kagami found herself floating, suspended in space.

_Am I…dead?_

She saw a mirror hovering, slowly approaching her. When it faced her, she saw an all too familiar face staring back at her. His long black hair framed his pale face, and when he opened his mouth, those words shot through her again.

"This is All. _Your_.Fault."

"They died because of _YOU!" _

She shut her eyes, trying to push the malicious voice out of her head. But she couldn't stop from questioning herself.

_Was it really my fault? Did I really kill them? Did they really die because of…me?_

She wanted to cry, but when she opened her mouth, nothing would come out. Anger, frustration, pain, and sadness built up in her aching heart. Another mirror began to float towards her, but she refused to open her eyes until she heard the softness of the voice. It was her sensei. Her sensei who had betrayed her, her sensei who had saved her. She slowly opened her eyes, and found herself face to face with the man she knew as Yokotoro-sensei.

"Kagami…Don't ever…lose sight…of who…you are…"

…_Who am I?_

She didn't know who she was without her family, without her home. She _was_ the daughter of Lord Saiyon. She _was _the sister of Roji, Daisuke, Taoru, and Chiyo Watanabe. She _was _a ninja-a ninja in-training-of Hikunakure. But who is she now?

As she continued to drift in this unknown space, the reality of it all had smacked her across the face. Her family was gone, and her home, as she knew it, was gone. They were frozen in time, and they would be forever still in her memories.

Another mirror slowly flipped around and around a distance away from her. She saw herself, and her papa, in his office. It was sunset, and the light glowed on her papa's face as he smiled at her while petting her head with a gentle hand.

"Child, do not worry. Everything will be alright."

What she wouldn't give to feel his hand on her head again. She tried running towards the mirror, towards her Papa Saiyon, but no matter how fast she moved her legs, she didn't move anywhere. The mirror kept spinning, but now it spun away from her, and faded away.

* * *

"Oh?…She's moving! Lord Hokage!"

_What?_

Kagami cracked an eyelid open, but the brightness of the light made her shut it again. She tried once more, easing the light in little by little. When her eyes were fully open, she saw that she was in a hospital room. Nurses skittered around, with clipboards and vials of liquids. Kagami moved her eyes around, unable to turn her head because of the throbbing pain that boomed inside.

She saw an old man approach her. He wore red and white robes, and a red and white hat that was in the shape of a wide leaf. He had a kind face, worn out from years of living. His eyes were understanding, yet authoritative. A short and white beard stuck out from his chin, hinting that he was in his older age.

"Hello, Kagami. It's good to see that you're alright."

Kagami widened her eyes.

"How…how do you know my name?…Who are you?"

The old man's mouth curved up into a small, but friendly smile.

"My name is Hiruzen Sarutobi. I was a friend of your father. I've known you since you were a baby."

Old people tended to say that a lot to her. "I've known you since you were a baby." But this man…this was _the _Hiruzen Sarutobi. Her father…her papa's best friend. The friend that wrote the letter she read. _That _letter.

"You need not worry about any danger. Right now, you are in the Hidden Leaf Village, Konohakure. You're safe here."

Kagami barely nodded, then a tear rolled down her cheek, leaving a trail of salty sorrow.

The Hokage furrowed his brows, his mouth tightening.

"I…I'm deeply sorry for what has happened to you. You've been through much suffering, too much suffering, and I understand that the pain…the pain is truly…"

More tears quietly trickled down her face. She didn't sob, she didn't wail.

The Hokage saw the pain in her eyes, but something else was happening.

Then he saw that something else. He saw her strength.

Kagami took a bandaged hand and wiped the tears from her face. She slowly got up into a sitting position, and stared at her palms.

"There must be a reason why…I'm the only one left. There must be a reason…why I'm still alive."

She balled her small hands into tiny fists, then turned to look at the Hokage. With a lump in her throat, she still managed to speak firmly.

"The man that brought chaos upon my family, upon my village…I _hate_ him. I hate him with everything I've got. But I'm not going to take revenge…No, I won't, because if I destroy myself, then I…"

The faces of her family flickered in her mind. They were all smiling.

"Then I won't be able to live for them! I won't be able to do anything. My life would be a waste. So I'm going to rebuild my village. I'm going to bring back Hikunakure, and I'm going to protect all the people in it. If that man comes again, then I'm going to fight him. He's gonna have to come at me first…_then I'll take him down_."

* * *

PHOOO….so that was kinda cheesy…I'm sorry :[ Uhh…but yeah! There's the 9th chapter for ya ;) Hope you enjoyed.

BY THE WAY! Shun is pronounced "shoon" and not…"shun." I can tell you right now, there _will _be wordplay with his name. So until next time, ta-ta!


	10. Chapter 10

I'm baaaack! Sorry this update is late! -sad face- I went snowboarding for a few days, so I had no internet connection, but I worked on this chapter for all you people :D

A super duper HUUUUUGE thank you to **Raion ()**, **Justalittlebatty13**, **Your Hoshi**, and **ZOMG ()** for the reviews. You guys are awesome, I love you all so much 3 It really makes me happy and inspires me to write more, so thank you again! From the bottom of my heart :D

So without further ado…oh wait.

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO.**

NOW THEN!

* * *

Chapter 10: This Guy

"This guy?"

The Hokage nodded. He recalled the conversation he had with Kagami a few days ago.

"_Sir_…_I want to become stronger_._ If I'm gonna rebuild my village, then I'm gonna need the power and will to do it."_

She was still recovering at the hospital when they spoke. Despite the large bandage that nearly dominated her forehead, he remembered the determination in her eyes as she presented her request.

"_If_…_if it's alright with you, may I stay in your village and train?"_

_The Hokage's eyes crinkled as he smiled._

"_Of course you can stay, child. You are the memento of my old friend. You can stay here as long as you like," he said_._ "And," he added, "I will find someone to train and guide you. After all, you can only go so far by yourself."_

And here he was! Kagami skeptically peered at the…boy? man?…who was supposed to be her new sensei. His face was covered by a cat-face mask, so his age was unknown to her. He could have been anything from age twenty to forty. Judging from his bare arm muscles, one of which was tattooed with a symbol, Kagami narrowed down the range to age twenty to thirty.

She squinted her eyes at him, trying to guess what he looked like underneath his mask.

_Hmm_, _what's he hiding?_…_Does he have a wide forehead? Does he have wrinkles? Does he have sunspots? DOES HE HAVE A NEVER-ENDING CHAIN OF BOOGERS?_

Little did Kagami know that he was an ANBU soldier, and being one meant that he _had _to wear a mask as part of his uniform, not because he had a wide forehead, wrinkles, sunspots, or a never-ending chain of boogers. Then again, Kagami didn't even know what the ANBU Black Ops was…at least, not yet.

"He is the one who found you unconscious outside of your village, and brought you back here," the Hokage said, matter-of-factly. "He is also one of our best…to-be" he teased. "Nevertheless, you're in good hands, Kagami."

The Hokage noticed that she was squinting at her new sensei, so he cleared his throat and spoke with the ANBU soldier.

"Why don't you go ahead and introduce yourself? And you may take your mask off. She _will _be your student, so it is only fair that she knows what you look like."

The ANBU soldier replied with a "Ah…yes sir," and took off his mask.

THE MOMENT OF TRUTH!

"Hello, Kagami. I'm Shun," he greeted. "It's a pleasure to finally meet the conscious you," he quirkily added.

Kagami whipped on her _OMG, WTF? _face. _This guy,_ this _Shun, _was _NOT _what she expected to see underneath that mask.

Yeah, he had short locks of spiky, red hair. Yeah, he had one green eye and one yellow eye. Yeah, he had a lopsided grin that was sort of cute…

_NO! _NO, I SAY! These are insignificant details, people! Well, maybe not for you readers, but…

What flabbergasted Kagami wasn't his cool hair, his weird eyes, or his charming smile…It was his _age_.

No, guys, he's not an old fart, although that would've been quite amusing. But anyway, Kagami didn't find it to be amusing at all.

Shun wasn't twenty, thirty, forty, or anything in between. He wasn't even an adult. He was a _teenager_. He was young enough to be her _brother_. Or maybe even her…boyfriend?

NO! You guys are silly. She's ten, don't get any crazy ideas.

While all of these thoughts bombarded Kagami's head, and while all your thoughts bombard your own head, let us all return to the story and now realize that Shun has been holding his hand out for Kagami to shake it.

She slowly reached out, then gripped his hand within her own. They pumped out two solid shakes.

Kagami started to say, "It's a pleasure to…"

It certainly wasn't a pleasure for Kagami to meet Shun. For her, it was like finding out her toilet was clogged with a brown monster that we all know so well.

However, this guy _did _rescue her, as the Hokage said, so he deserved _some_ sort of respect.

"It's a pleasure to know that the one who brought me back here…is my new sensei," she finished. "Thank you."

Kagami knew very well that she could request to have someone else train her if she didn't like Shun. However, in the handshake she took part in, the deal was sealed. She had a feeling that they would be stuck together for a _very _long time…whether she liked it or not.

The Hokage smiled.

"Good! Now that you two have met each other-Shun! Why don't you show her around Konoha? And…you can tell her about the ANBU Black Ops."

"Of course, Lord Hokage," Shun said. He looked at Kagami and did his lopsided grin. "Let's go grab some lunch while we're at it."

* * *

"Those are the four kages of the of village, past and present," Shun told Kagami as he pointed at the stone carvings of the kages' faces.

He was wearing the regular shinobi uniform now, meaning the green flak jacket with the long black sleeve underneath. The Hokage decided to have Shun wear the regular uniform while he gave Kagami a tour of the village. For now, there would be no masks, no hidden identities. It would be only for today though, because starting the next day, Kagami would be joining the ANBU Black Ops. After today, Shun would resume wearing his mask, and Kagami would choose and wear hers. Only they would know what each others' faces looked like, with the exception of a few other people. But Kagami didn't know about any of this ANBU business…yet. The Hokage, that great old man, decided to leave all of the explanations to Shun.

As student and teacher walked through the village, Kagami took in the atmosphere of her new and temporary home. The buildings were tall and stood next to each other, with clothes lines hanging in the air from window to window. The streets were made of packed and trod-on dirt, and dust was kicked up whenever other children skipped and ran around. There were shops, bars, and restaurants, just like it was back in Hikunakure. But Konoha was bigger. Much bigger. And it had more people. Lots of people.

Kagami slowly spun around in circles, looking at everything they passed by. Shun had his hands in his pockets, watching his curious new student as they walked through the village.

"So…Kagami. What uhh…rank are you?" Shun asked, trying to get a glimpse of her background.

Kagami was walking backwards now, craning her neck this way and that, trying to imagine what Konoha looked like from a bird's view.

"Rank? Well…I don't have a rank. I'm not even a genin," she replied.

"Oh? No worries, then. Underneath my training, you'll have the skill of a jounin," he said. "Within a few years," he added with his quirky grin.

"Oh, really?" she said, not believing him. "What rank are _you_?"

"I'm in ANBU, so I don't have a rank. Oh hey, whadduya know? We already have something in common! Shun and Kagami: the rank-less!"

Kagami squinted her eyes and pursed her lips at Shun. _Oh, you're_ _real_ _funny_…_NOT!_

Then she realized that she didn't know what this whole ANBU thing was about.

"So what's this ANBU that you and the old man talked about?" Kagami asked.

Shun took his hands out of his pockets then clasped them together behind his head. He leaned back and looked at the strip of sky between the buildingsasthey walked through.

"Well…basically it's a special organization with highly-skilled ninja," he answered. He turned his head to look at her. "I know the Hokage didn't tell you about any of this. You'll be joining it tomorrow. But-hey! Ichiraku Ramen! Wanna eat there for lunch? We can talk about ANBU after."

Kagami tilted her head and gave Shun a curious look. What were the chances that he knew that ramen was her favorite food?

Negative one percent.

* * *

Kagami watched with big, stupefied eyes as she watched Shun slurp down his ramen.

"Um…how _old_ are you?"

"Shikshteen," he told her, with a mouth full of noodles.

Kagami stared at him with the most outrageous look on her face.

_No_…_freaking_…_way_…_SIXTEEN?_

He was only six years older than her, and the Hokage chose _him_ to "train and guide" her? Of all the people in Konoha, it had to be _THIS GUY_?

* * *

And there you have it! :D

I hope you liked it. I know it's a…probably really WEIRD transition from death and destruction to la-la-la we're in Konoha now, YAY! But…I tried D:

Thank you all for reading! Review if you'd like to, and stay tuned for the next chapter!

Until next time, ciao y'all.


	11. Chapter 11

Hello! Sorry this update took so long, this thing called school is sucking away at my life :/

Anyways! I have decided that I will update this story once a week on Tuesdays! With the exception of today since it's Wednesday, but hey, at least you get to wait one day less for the next update!

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO.**

And now, on to the chapter of…!

* * *

Chapter 11: Student and Teacher Relationships

A young boy sat alone on a wooden rope swing that hung from a tree. Specks of sun shined on him from in between the spaces of the leaves above him. He was blond, blue-eyed, and had whisker marks on his cheeks.

By the way, this boy is not Naruto.

SIKE! Anyways…

His head was down, and his eyes were cast on the ground of grass and dirt below him.

"Naruto!"

The boy looked up from the ground to see a man with a brown ponytail, and a scar across his cheek bones and the bridge of his nose

"Iruka-sensei?"

"What are you doing here?" his teacher kindly asked. "Shouldn't you be out playing with the other kids?"

A pause. An awkward pause. A sad pause.

"…No one wants to play with me."

Iruka was stuck. Now what he should say?

He knew all about the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox inside of Naruto, and so did everyone else, which is why they avoided him. They treated him like a curse. But _he _didn't want to treat Naruto that way. It was hard not to go with the crowd, but he knew that Naruto was hurt inside, and that wasn't right. He decided that he would be the one to willingly involve himself with the one that was unwanted and cast aside.

But still, the whole thing was confusing and worrying to Iruka. What could he do? What could he say?

"Hey Naruto, why don't we go for some ramen?"

The boy's face lit up as he nodded his head and grinned.

"Okay!"

* * *

"So Naruto, have you been practicing your ninjutsu?" Iruka asked, with the crinkly eye smile that only anime characters can do.

Naruto pouted and squinted his eyes at his teacher.

"Iruka-sensei, you teach us the boring stuff. You gotta show us the cool stuff!"

Iruka laughed and said, "You have to know the basics first, before you move on to the next level, Naruto! Practice is important!"

As the student and teacher pair walked towards the ramen shop up ahead, they heard the voices of another particular student and teacher pair.

"_No! _I'm your _sensei!_ Let me pay for you!"

"The Hokage didn't help me out with money for no reason, y'know! I'm gonna have to learn to take care of myself! So I'll pay for my food on my own."

"Save your money for later then! I want to be courteous, so just LET ME PAY FOR YOU!"

"Nuh-_UH!_"

Iruka and Naruto stopped a few yards away from the entrance and gave each other the raised eyebrow look. They turned their attention back to the ramen shop, and saw the legs and feet of the two people who disputed. One was obviously shorter than the other. However, Iruka and Naruto couldn't tell who they were because of the curtains that draped halfway down the entrance of the shop. They tried to guess the identity of the two people without going in and possibly interrupting their boiling argument.

"STOP BEING SO IMMATURE!" one of the voices roared. It was a male's voice, and it probably belonged to the taller of the two people.

"Immature? I'm ten years old! I have a _right_ to be immature!" the other voice snapped back. It was a young girl's voice, and it had to have belonged to the shorter of the two.

"How do you expect to be a _competent_ ninja if **YOU'RE SO **_**IMMATURE**_?"

"…Compe-What is…?…Don't use big words on me! And how do you expect to be a good sensei if you're yelling at me in a ramen shop? Your social skills _suck!_"

"SHUT UP!"

"Make me!"

"Oh, I _will_."

"EEEEP! Put me down, right now! NOW! Before I _kick your_-MMMPH!"

"Sorry 'bout this, sir. Um…my hands are full, but can you reach into my pocket and pull out the money? Thanks. Your ramen is the best as always!"

An older boy, who appeared to be Mr. Sucky Social Skills, popped out from behind the ramen shop's curtains. He was wearing the usual chuunin/jounin uniform. Iruka had never seen him before. Odd, because he would usually know all of the chuunin or jounin in the village.

Mr. Sucky Social Skills took notice of Iruka.

"Oh! Hello, Iruka!"

"Um…hello. I don't believe we've met before."

"Oh! Actually, we have," he said, matter-of-factly. "I know you, you just don't know me," he added.

"Ah…I see…?"

"Well, it was nice seeing you again! But, I gotta go. I got some…_business_ to take care of."

He looked down at Ms. Immature who was struggling to get out of his grip. He had one arm wrapped around her torso, and the other arm wrapped around her head in an awkward headlock, with the hand clamped onto her mouth.

"Catcha later!"

And with that, they were gone in a poof of smoke.

…So what the hey just happened?

Iruka scratched the back of his neck with his hand while leaning his head to one side.

_That was…strange_.

Naruto raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to one side as well. He stared at the smoke dissolving into the air.

_Who is she?_

He didn't know that girl. According to her immaturity rights, she was the same age as him. It occurred to him he had never seen her in the village before, so he wondered if she was originally from Konoha. But if she was new around here…then maybe…

"Hey, Naruto?"

Naruto snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head around a few times.

"Yeah, sensei?"

Iruka winked and said, "Just let me know whenever you want to pay for your own ramen. Then we can avoid…issues."

They both laughed as they walked inside to have their lunch.

People are silly, aren't they?

* * *

And there you have it! It's a short chapter this time, but I figured after the 2000 something words from the chapters before, I'd cut it down for the next few chapters so it's not long and boring haha!

Hope you liked it! Review if you'd like, and stay tuned for the next chapter on next Tuesday!

Ciao, ya'll.


	12. Chapter 12

IT'S STILL TUESDAY GUYS! I'm sorry I updated this so late in the day though -_-

So um…this chapter is the longest so far...I'm sorry :X There's quite a bit of explaining to do in this chapter. I hope you'll like it though!

A SUPER DUPER thank you to .Fox for the review! :D

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO.**

* * *

Chapter 12: The Bigger World

It was another quiet, peaceful day in the village. The clouds lazily rolled across the sky, and gentle winds passed through the streets, carrying loose green leaves that had fallen from the trees. It was quite a beautiful day, and to make things even better...the kids were in school.

However, as peaceful and beautiful as the day was, the Hokage was still bogged down with paperwork. Oh darn.

Hiruzen leaned back in his chair while reviewing a report about a new ANBU recruit. He realized and remembered that it was Kagami.

_Ah, that's right. I wonder how she's doing. It was only yesterday that I spoke with her. Meaning today, Shun should have installed her._

He looked at a clock on the wall. It was ticking towards noon.

_I think I shall take a break and walk outside for some fresh air._

The Hokage put the paper down onto his desk, then signed it. He turned his head to look at what was left to work on. Papers, papers, more papers, and more papers, and papers. OH LOOK! More papers.

_On second thought…I think I will take the rest of the day off._

When you are the Hokage, you do whatever the hey you want to.

Hiruzen breathed a relieved sigh, already enjoying himself in his newly created work-free world.

Just as he stood up to call it a day, he heard a sudden stampede of feet in the hall, followed by the door blasting open. It swung into the wall so fiercely that the doorknob fell off.

"OLD MAN, ARE YOU _NUTS_?"

It was Kagami.

The Hokage stared wildly at the girl, then at the doorknob on the floor. He had a feeling that his day wasn't quite over yet.

"What is the meaning of this?" he asked, half calm, half nerve-wrecked.

Another voice angrily bellowed from the hallway.

"KAGAMI! Come back here! _Now_!"

The girl squeaked and dashed over to the Hokage and hid behind him. As she clutched onto his robes, she peeked out, and saw Shun storm into the office. He was wearing his ANBU uniform again, and he had that cat-face mask on. Despite not being able to see his face, Kagami knew that the expression behind that mask wasn't a pretty one.

Shun cleared his throat and said, "Lord Hokage, I deeply apologize for the interruption. I-AUH!"

He fell over onto his face. Someone had run into him from behind, knocked him over, and landed onto his back.

"Oh, sorry sir...OLD MAN SAVE ME! Iruka-sensei's gonna KILL ME!"

I think we can all make a guess as to who this particular someone is. If not, Iruka will soon tell you.

"NARUTO! Get back here!" he yelled.

The boy scrambled from on top of the ANBU soldier's back and scurried over to the Hokage to hide behind him. He widened his eyes when he saw a familiar face.

"Hey! You're that girl I saw yesterday at the ramen shop! What are you doing here?" he asked, excitement in his voice.

"Uh…"

The girl didn't remember seeing _him,_ but she answered his question anyways.

"I'm hiding from my sensei," she whispered, pointing at the ANBU who was picking himself up from the fall. "_That guy_."

The boy slightly tilted his head back and his mouth shaped into an "Oh…!"

The girl questioned him back, "And what are _you_ doing here?"

He grinned, "I'm hiding from my sensei, too!"

As if on cue, Iruka had finally arrived and entered the room.

The young boy pointed his finger at his teacher and said, "Him!"

Iruka and Shun now stood next to each other, with a little bit of distance in between them. They both glared at their respective students.

Hiding behind the Hokage, the boy and girl simultaneous stared back at their teachers, and stuck their tongues out. They looked at each other and grinned.

"Teachers suck," the boy said.

"Oh, you know it," the girl agreed.

The boy smiled. Maybe he knew it then, maybe he didn't, but he now had a partner in crime-Excuse me, he had a _new friend_.

He took a thumb and pointed at himself as he grinned.

"I'm Naruto! Naruto Uzumaki!"

The girl smiled back.

"My name's Kagami. Kagami Watanabe."

When they exchanged their names, something clicked between them. A new bond had been born, and was strengthening with each moment that passed as the boy and girl smiled at each other.

* * *

Amidst all of this abrupt craziness on his day off, the Hokage was most perplexed at what he had just heard. He looked down at the girl beside him, and noticed that she had the ANBU tattoo on her arm.

The fact that Kagami had just told her name to someone else, _and _that she had the ANBU tattoo meant that something had gone wrong with her installation into the ANBU Black Ops.

That was already one negative thing. The _other_ thing was already going downhill from the looks of it. Little did Kagami know that she was taking a pop quiz.

* * *

The Hokage, the poor…old…man…closed his eyes, and sighed. He mentally beat each person in the room with a wooden stick. These youngsters, these _whippersnappers_, had no idea how hard it was to be the Hokage. And they just _had _to ruin his day off. Well, with the situations at hand, it wasn't his day off anymore. Sorry, old man.

Shun saw how confused and overwhelmed the Hokage looked-well, anyone could have seen that. Except for blind people, but that's besides the point. So, Shun decided to go first with filling in his boss on what was going on.

"Lord Hokage, that girl over there refuses to follow ANBU's rules! She's being a complete fool!"

Kagami retorted, "Hey! You know what? What if I _don't _want to join some shady organization that hunts and assassinates people?" She turned her head to look up at the Hokage. "Why old man? I only want to become stronger so I can fight to protect! Not to kill!"

Before the Hokage could say anything, Shun defended him and shouted, "The Hokage wanted you to join ANBU because he thought that it would be best for you! It's for _your _well being!"

Kagami shouted back, "In ANBU, no one is allowed to say who they are! Am I supposed to hide from everyone when I rebuild my village? Am I supposed to lead them when they don't even know who I am?"

"That's not the _point!_" Shun roared.

"Then what _is it_?"

Iruka and Naruto stared wildly at the verbal brawl that unfolded before them. They had a feeling that their issue was of much less…significance. Not only that, but something told them that they were hearing things that they shouldn't have been hearing. Any information regarding ANBU and its members was strictly confidential.

So what was the Hokage doing this whole time? You would've thought that the old man would've done something by now to stop the argument and the information that Kagami was spewing out about herself. But no, the old man had something else in mind.

"_Enough_!" he barked, speaking in his authoritative and gruff tone.

Both Kagami and Shun immediately stopped their bickering.

"Shun. Kagami. I want you to wait outside of this room." He turned to the other teacher and student pair. "Iruka. Naruto. Stay in here."

The Hokage knew that whatever _their_ problem was, it would be easier and quicker to deal with first.

* * *

Iruka took a deep breath, then said, "Naruto was causing a disturbance in class today, so I sent him outside. He decided to ditch school then, and from my window, I saw him running away. I told the rest of the kids to work on some homework, then I chased after him. And now we're here."

The Hokage nodded his head, and grunted out a "Hmm."

He set his eyes on the blond boy.

"Naruto."

"...Yes?...Old man?"

"You realize that you are causing a great deal of trouble, not just for your teacher, but for myself as well?"

Naruto turned his head away and pouted, while crossing his arms.

"School is boring. And no one talks to me. Why should I even bother?"

The Hokage gently smiled at the boy.

"Perhaps school may be boring, but it _is _important. And…didn't Kagami talk to you? You two…seemed to get along for the little time you spent behind me, hiding from your teachers."

Naruto widened his eyes, but his head was still turned away, and his arms were still crossed.

"Naruto, do you realize that you have stumbled upon a secret?"

"A secret?" he asked. Now his attention was completely caught.

"Yes. You _do _realize what I am talking about, correct?"

Naruto tilted his head and put his thumb and index finger in a V-shape on his chin.

"…Yeah. Now that I think about it, that whole argument…Kagami had something to do with ANBU, right? Meaning…she-"

Naruto snapped his fingers.

"She wasn't supposed to tell me her name! But she did! And she wasn't wearing her uniform or those weird masks!" he blurted.

"You actually _did _learn something in school! Wow. I mean-Yes! _That_ is the secret, Naruto. Kagami is a member of ANBU. Well, she is supposed to be. And I am only supposed to know the identities of the people who are in ANBU. However, you now know the identity of an ANBU member. You know what she looks like, and you know who she is."

"Wow…this is an awesome secret!"

"But! You must listen to me, Naruto. If you want to keep this secret, you _must_ go to school and not cause Iruka anymore trouble. And of course, you can't tell anyone about it. Otherwise, I will have Inoichi erase everything you heard in this room. And you will no longer have this secret."

"NO OLD MAN! I want to keep the secret!"

"Then you will go to school and not cause anymore trouble."

Naruto nodded his head up and down.

"I promise! I'll go to school and be good."

The Hokage smiled.

"Good! Then this secret is yours and Kagami's only."

"Wait…but old man, _you_ know about it!"

"I'm the Hokage. I'm supposed to know everything."

"Oh…wait, what about Iruka-sensei?"

The two turned their heads at the man who had been quietly standing aside.

The Hokage cleared his throat. "Iruka, do you mind if we have Inoichi erase a little bit of today from your memory?"

Iruka shuffled his feet, then said, "Ah…for the sake of everything, Lord Hokage, I think that that would be the best. I don't particularly like knowing things I shouldn't know about."

"Good. I'll find a substitute teacher to teach for rest of today, and you and I shall head over to the mind-reading chamber later on." He turned back to the boy. "Are you satisfied now, Naruto?"

He nodded his head up and down again, a big grin on his face. He liked this whole secret deal.

"Now then. Iruka, please go find Izumo and Kotetsu. They should be off-duty, so they can teach your class for the rest of the day. Naruto, go back to school with them."

"Yes, Lord Hokage."

"You got it, old man!"

Well...That was one problem solved.

* * *

"A little after I finished printing the tattoo onto her arm, she just burst out the door and ran away! It was before we swore her into ANBU. And she hadn't chosen a mask yet," Shun explained.

Kagami talked back, "I was panicking! You told me that ANBU was for assassination and torture! I realized that at the last minute, and that's why I ran! This isn't something I want to do! Why didn't you tell me about this, old man? I thought you were going to have…a _normal_ sensei teach me! This is all crazy!"

"You failed," the Hokage said.

The girl widened her eyes. "…What?" she asked, suddenly nervous.

"You. Failed," he repeated.

"What…do you mean?"

"This was your first test. And you failed."

Kagami still didn't get it. She would have realized what was going on if she saw the smirk behind Shun's mask.

"Every ninja must be well informed before he or she takes action. Of course, there are exceptions, but you must have good judgment based upon what you know. Shun told you that ANBU is for assassinations and torture, correct? However, he didn't tell you everything. You didn't like what you heard, and so you acted upon it. You had good judgment to come to me and ask about it. However, your behavior needs improvement. You should have been more calm, and you should have spoken in a more mature tone. That is why you have failed this test."

Kagami's eyes widened. She was stupefied.

This whole thing was a test. A test. Did that mean that Shun yelling at her was all but an act? She knew that they didn't exactly hit it off at the ramen shop, but she didn't expect that their arguments would get _this _bad. But they didn't. According to the Hokage, it was just a test. So...Shun wasn't really mad at her?

Her sensei put a hand onto her shoulder.

"You're young kid, but you gotta start training now, if you want to become stronger. The Hokage wants you in ANBU because he knows you can take on the challenge. I know it's more strict, and probably more scary, but I promise you won't have to hunt anyone down and kill them or torture them. We just want you here because the training will help you gain the skills to reach your goal."

He paused, then added, "And _that's_ the whole story."

Kagami nearly cried. After hearing everything, she couldn't believe that she acted so foolishly.

The Hokage said, "Well, that's not exactly the _whole _story. You see Kagami, when you told Shun and I about this man who…destroyed your village, we thought it would be best that you go into ANBU for the other reason of hiding your identity. If word gets out that a Kagami Watanabe lives in the Hidden Leaf, this man may hunt after you again, and I would not like for that to happen."

Kagami slowly shook her head while looking down.

"…I'm sorry…I'm sorry I was so immature about this…I didn't know-"

"Hey kid, it's alright. You're still learning. It's how you grow. And you'll keep growing. We all do."

The Hokage smiled. He was glad that he had chosen Shun to teach the girl.

"Oh…and Kagami?" said the old man. "About this whole identity deal. You were quite upset about it earlier. I thought the situation over, and I have decided that you may go around in the village without a mask."

Kagami's face brightened up. She now understood why they wanted to hide her identity, but she still didn't like the idea of walking around in a mask all day.

"However, this will only be half of the time. Whenever you are training, and whenever you are with the ANBU, you must be in uniform, you must wear a mask, and you must go by your codename. For the rest of the time, you may go by your real name in the village, but only your first name. You must not tell anyone about your surname, your village, or the Bikuyu, understand? This is for your safety."

Kagami had a small smile on her face. The old man wasn't nuts at all. He was being gracious.

"Oh, and I forgot to tell you one more thing," he added. "You remember Naruto, yes? Well, he knows that you are Kagami Watanabe, and that you are in ANBU now. Although this is completely breaking ANBU's rules, I decided that you may tell him, and only him, anything about yourself. I made him promise that he wouldn't tell anything about you. You see, I thought it would be nice for you to have at least one person who is your age that you can sincerely talk to. I noticed that you made quite the bond earlier. I have a feeling that you two will need each other."

Kagami had a wide, happy smile on her face now. She thought that she would have to live the rest of her life in the Hidden Leaf in half-secrecy, but no. She would have a friend. Naruto would be there for her. And she would be there for him.

* * *

Naruto had returned to class, and to the rest of the class' surprise, he was grinning like a madman. Usually, he would be sulking because of Iruka's scolding. But even Iruka didn't come back to the classroom. Instead, Izumo and Kotetsu were replacing him for the day.

Substitutes! YES! Glory hallelujah.

"Hey, Naruto! Why are you smiling so much?" a pink-haired girl asked. "Didn't you get in trouble?"

Naruto just grinned back. "I can't tell ya, Sakura! It's a secret! And no, I didn't get in trouble."

The girl named Sakura had the "…What?" look on her face.

Naruto sat down, then eyed a certain someone next to him. A mischievous grin appeared on the blonde boy's face as he poked the one we all know as Sasuke Uchiha.

"Hey, Sasuke," he goaded.

"…What, Naruto?"

"I know something you don't."

* * *

Oh, Naruto, you're such a tease.

I HOPE YOU LIKED IT! And I hope it wasn't…too confusing. It's sort of complex, and I had some trouble writing it so that it makes sense, but if anything doesn't make sense to you, please, please, please, please tell me, and I'll fix it to the best of my abilities. And of course, if you want, I can just explain it to you too! ANYWHO! Stay tuned, and, TATA!


	13. Chapter 13

Hey y'all, it's Tuesday, and you know what that means :D YAY new chappie!

I want to thank **Angelfang**, **cute-anime-cupcake**, **KITTY LOVES HIDAN AND KAKUZU**, and **Sapphire-sama** for your reviews! You guys are amazing, thank you!

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO.**

And so, let's begin!

* * *

Chapter 13: ANBU - Day 1 (Second Attempt)

Kagami slowly blinked her eyes open as dawn broke outside of her window. The sky was a blend of purples and blues, tinted with streaks of orange.

She lay still in her bed, staring up at the ceiling, trying to make pictures out of its texture.

_These past few days haven't been so bad_…_But I still can't_…

She turned over onto her side and looked out the window. The sun barely peeked over a mountain. A bird flew by, making a swift shadow over the girl's face.

"Papa, I still miss you…" she whispered, her voice barely audible. "And Roji… Daisuke…Taoru…Chiyo…Yokotoro-sensei…everyone…"

Holding onto a ripple of her white bed sheets, she quietly breathed while the sun slid up into the morning sky.

"I wish you were all still here to see the sunrise…It's so beautiful…"

Kagami soon realized that she couldn't lay there and think to herself for too long. For her, time still existed, and she had to move along with it.

She sat up and stretched, raising her arms above her head, then kicked out her legs from beneath the blankets. Stepping out onto the cold, hardwood, floor, she covered her mouth as she yawned.

"Ahhh…well. Time to officially become an ANBU today. And not chicken out."

As she wrestled on an oversized shirt borrowed from Shun, she set her mind on her life goal.

_I'm going to bring back my village, and I'm going to protect my people. I'm going to become stronger, and I'll fight so that everyone else can be safe._

She hopped from one foot onto the other while pulling on a pair of shorts. Quickly, but neatly, while brushing her hair, she looked at herself in the mirror, then ran towards the door to put on her shoes.

_I'll fight, and I'll keep fighting_…_so that no one will have to go through what I did_…_not if I can help it_…_! _

Her hand rested on the doorknob for a moment, then turned it. Opening the door, she stepped out and felt the warmth of the sun's rays greet her face.

_Every morning_…_I'll have to wake up knowing that you're not here_…_but I'll have to face it_…_because this is something that will never stop._

The faces of her family flashed through her mind. She held out her hand and grabbed the air in front of her, then made a fist.

_That's why…_

"That's why_ I'll_ never stop! I'll keep fighting until the day we're all together again!"

With that, Kagami smiled and gazed once more at the sun. She then clapped her hands together into a hand sign, and created a mirror portal for her teleportation jutsu. She stepped into it, then disappeared. If anyone watched her, it would have looked like she disappeared into nothing. But we know that she disappeared into some dimension that no one else has seen or been in. She disappeared into time and space themselves.

* * *

"Wow, I never realized, until now, how _big_ that shirt is on you!…You're short. Grow taller."

Kagami stuck her tongue out at Shun. Immediately after she did this gesture, Shun chucked a bundle of clothing into her face.

"Try those on. And don't disrespect your sensei," he said, half-serious, yet half-joking.

"MMPH!"

Kagami had just arrived at ANBU's headquarters in the village, and Shun was assisting her with finding the right-sized uniform. They were in…YES! The uniform room! Who would've guessed?

The room didn't have any windows. Just plain gray walls that stared back at you with…grayness. Rectangular, fluorescent lights lit the room, and one of the lights occasionally flickered. Black metal cabinets, filled with different sizes of the different articles of the uniform, were lined up against two of the walls. One of the other walls had a door that led outside into a hallway, and the other other wall led to a bathroom.

Kagami walked into the bathroom and changed into the clothes that Shun had just thrown at her. It was the ANBU uniform.

The black sleeveless shirt fit fine, and the black pants fit fine. The shoes were fine, and the armguards were fine. Everything was fine…_except_ for the silver tank top, which was worn on top of the sleeveless shirt. It was too big for Kagami. It was bigger than _her_.

She walked out of the bathroom with the tank in hand, and said, "…Do you have anything smaller for this?"

Shun gave her a surprised look, not that she could see it since he had his mask on.

"You _kidding_ me? That's a _small_! Try it on again."

"Small my arse," the girl retorted under her breath, as she reluctantly put the tank top back on.

Her sensei burst out laughing when he saw Kagami's issue with the piece of clothing. It looked like an oversized dress on her. She was practically swimming in it.

"Don't laugh!" she demanded.

"AHAHAHA! Oh _man_!" He took a breath, then exhaled. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry. I'm done now."

Two seconds later.

Shun snorted…then, "AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Sensei…you suck," Kagami said dryly.

"Hey! The attitude!" Shun scolded, snapping out from his laughter.

His student clasped her hands together in front of her chest, as if she was praying. She looked at him with a straight face.

"What attitude? I didn't do anything. I'm a good girl, Shun-sensei," she innocently claimed. Then she sarcastically added, "See the halo on my head?"

Her sensei face-palmed. Kagami took this opportunity to strip off the overly large tank top, (she still had the black sleeveless shirt on, she wasn't going nakies), and chucked it back at her sensei's head. To her dismay, she completely missed.

"Wow, _my aim _sucks….I need to start throwing kunai again."

Shun looked up from his facepalm and gave her a horrified look. Not that she could see it.

"Heaven forbid. I have a feeling that you have a knack for hitting things other than your target."

"Hey, you're just _jealous_! One day…it'll be a blessing in disguise."

"Right, whatever."

There was a knock on the door.

"Yo, Shun. Your kid needs to take the oath in ten minutes," a muffled voice notified from outside the door.

"Alright, thanks!" Shun called back. He turned to Kagami and said, "Let's go get you your mask. We can fix the rest of your uniform later."

As they left the uniform room, Kagami shuddered. "Heaven forbid you from ever having your _own _kids."

Shun stuck out a foot in front of his unaware student, causing her to fall flat onto her face. He pretended to look off into some distance, while he stuck a pinky finger in his ear and twisted it around.

"Say what?"

"…I hate you, sensei," the girl mumbled into the floor.

Shun grinned. "I love you too, Kagami."

* * *

"Woah."

"As you can see from our selection, we like variety in our collection of masks."

Kagami looked around in awe at the multitude of masks that hung from the walls of…YES! The mask room!

Faces of birds, bears, cats, wolves, foxes, and dogs stared back at the girl with empty, black-holed eyes. The masks were a simple white with red lines and swirls, but they were each unique in their own way.

"So which one do you want?" Shun asked, hands on his hips.

Kagami gaped. "Um…There's so many…"

Her sensei lifted his right wrist to his face, pretending to look at an imaginary watch on his wrist.

"Well, you gotta take the oath in a few minutes. So you gotta choose quickly. We can't have your face shown to the other ANBU, y'know. Even though I already know what you look like. But! We're a special case. Just us two."

Kagami had a feeling that he just cheesily winked.

"Um…"

Shun put an arm around Kagami's shoulders and began singing. I'll let you know right now, he doesn't have the prettiest singing voice.

"You and I~ We'll always be together! You and I~ Will be best friends forever!"

"YOU WISH! Get offa me!"

"Hahaha! Okay, okay. I was just playing around…But really, you need to hurry up."

"Umm…"

Kagami quickly scanned around the mask room, but there were just _so many._ How could she choose when she hardly had the time to not even look at half of them?

Shun walked over to one of the racks, took a mask down, then showed it to Kagami.

"How 'bout this one?" he asked.

It was a wolf mask, lined with whiskers and decorated with little swirls here and there. A wolf. Her animal spirit.

Shun knew about her history. It was on the day when they first met, (which…wasn't too long ago), that Kagami had told him about herself. He remembered after their fight at the ramen shop, he poofed them over to one of the training grounds in the village. There, they settled their brawl and wrestled it out. He won, of course, and he ended the match by simply sitting on her.

They made a temporary truce, mostly on Kagami's part, since she was the one who was out of breath after their fight. They decided to rest, and laid in the cool grass as they watched the orange sun slide down behind the mountains. Shun recalled the conversation they had.

"_So tell me about yourself, Kagami_."

"…_Where do I start? There's_…_almost too much to say_…_" _

"_Ah, well_…_how 'bout I give you an example? Let's see_…_I like ramen_. _I like to play card games. I have a special ability which allows me to see two different perspectives at the same time, which is the reason why my eyes are different colors. I can also run extremely fast. I find it funny when girls fight over a guy, or vice versa. And_…_I like to sleep on my stomach-side. Your turn."_

_Kagami looked at her new teacher with an odd look._

"_Those_…_are some interesting things to know_…_about my sensei. I never knew much about my old sensei_…_but umm_…_well_…_I like ramen, too. And_…_I like to play hide-and-go-seek. I-"_

She only told him about things from the surface at first, but then she unconsciously went deeper. She told him more and more about who she was and where she was from. That was when he found out about the Bikuyu and her village. That was when he realized that his student was…no ordinary person. Or was it that she _was_ an ordinary person, but what had happened to her was too extraordinary for her?

"Wow…I like it, Shun-sensei. It's…nice. Did you pick it because you know that I have a wolf spirit?"

"Let's just say, you remind me of a wolf"

"Oh, I do?…Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

Shun laughed. "To me, it's…it's a _brave_ thing…Being a wolf is hard. Generally, wolves travel with others. But…you're traveling alone. And you feel alone, don't you?"

Kagami widened her eyes. She was only with this guy for…what? Not even three full days! And he could already read her.

Shun bent down, then put a hand on her head and patted it. It was the same gesture her father always did.

"You're a brave wolf, Kagami. Although I may not understand _how_ hard it is…I _know _that it's hard and that it's painful to be alone, after being with the people you love for so long. But…I'm here for you, Kagami. We're all here for you. Konoha is your home, too."

Kagami leapt into Shun and wrapped her arms around his neck. She held him tightly, digging her face into his shoulder. Shun embraced her back, with one hand cupping the back of her head. He felt a wetness drip down onto his shoulder.

* * *

The Hokage looked up from his never-ending paperwork to see the two people who had just entered his office. He kindly smiled.

"So…how did it go?" he asked.

Shun did a thumbs-up and said, "Everything went smoothly today! The uniform, the mask, the oath, the rules, the codename, everything. Right, Ookami?"

His student nodded her head twice. "Mhm!"

The Hokage chuckled. "I like your codename…_Ookami. _It means 'wolf' yes? Even your mask is in the shape of a wolf-face! Did you pick them out yourself?"

"Nope! Shun-sensei did," she answered, smiling. Not that anyone could see it.

The old man himself smiled. "I see. Well then! Welcome to ANBU, Ookami."

"Thanks, old man."

The Hokage cleared his throat.

"Generally, on an ANBU recruit's first day, I would have them take…somewhat of an assessment, to see where they would best fit in the organization. However…" He pointed behind her. "I need you to fix that first."

Ookami turned around to see what the Hokage pointed at. It was the door, and it was still broken. The doorknob hadn't been replaced yet.

How did she not notice that when they came into his office?

"Ohhhh…that! Don't worry old man, I'll fix it up in no time! I got this."

* * *

"WHY IS FIXING A DOORKNOB SO HARD!"

Ookami angrily threw a screwdriver down onto the floor, making a rather noticeable scrape on the wood.

"Oh crap…!"

She slowly turned her head around to see if the Hokage had noticed. Good thing he didn't.

* * *

It was nearly sunset now, and both Hokage and Ookami were still in his office.

"I'M FINALLY DONE!" the girl cried.

She threw her arms up in the air, rejoicing. However, she didn't have a firm grip on the screwdriver she had been working with, the same one she scraped the floor with earlier. She lost hold of it, so it flew across the room, breaking a window, and fell down somewhere outside.

"Aw **CRAP**!"

_This_ time the Hokage noticed.

"OOKAMI! Do you plan to wreck my entire office?" the old man bellowed.

"I'M SORRY! Hold on, hold on, I got this!"

The girl swiftly executed a series of hand signs, then shouted, "FIX-THE-OLD-MAN'S-WINDOW JUTSU!"

A glass appeared and formed itself into the broken window. It glared against the sun, looking as if it had never been broken.

"See? All new!" Ookami announced proudly. "Good thing glass is somewhat reflective…or I couldn't have fixed it," she mumbled to herself.

The Hokage blinked, then carefully scrutinized the window.

"Very impressive…I have not seen anything like this before." He turned around to face the girl. "Now let's just hope that that screwdriver did not gouge out anyone's eyes."

Ookami bolted out of the room. After teleporting outside, she stepped onto the dirt ground, fiercely whipping her head left and right to search for the screwdriver that had caused her so much trouble.

"Are you looking for this?"

A black-haired boy stood in front of her, holding the exact object she was looking for.

The girl sheepishly replied, "Oh…yes! Thank you!"

As the boy gave her the screwdriver back, he gave her a dark, curious look.

"It broke that window up there…then fell down here. But…" he craned his neck to look at the window, then glanced back at the girl. "Now the window isn't broken anymore…Were you the one who fixed it?"

"Uhhh…"

_What am I supposed to say? The Hokage told me I can't tell anyone, except Naruto, about who I am, my abilities, the Bikuyu, and-oh you know what?_

"No, actually, everything you just saw…was a GENJUTSU!"

The girl wriggled the screwdriver between her fingers, making the straight object look curvy.

"See? I'm just a figment of your imagination. NOW STOP DREAMING AND GO HOME!"

She briskly stepped back into her mirror portal, and disappeared.

Sasuke stared at the air in front of him. He looked back up at the window, then at his hands. There was no trace of what had just happened. Nothing at all.

_No_…_but it was real_. _I saw it. No one can fix a window that quickly_. _That girl_…

A gust of wind blew, carrying rusted leaves and playing with the boy's tufts of black hair.

_Who is she?_

* * *

TADAAA! At chapter 13, Sasuke and Kagami have FINALLY met, except…they just don't know it. TEEHEE.

SO! That was a long chapter, sorry again :/ But I hope you liked it!

Review if you'd like to! And next Tuesday, you shall find out more! Ciao for now.


	14. Chapter 14

GUYSSSSSSS! I am SO sorry for this late update :X There was this thing called Error Type 2 that wouldn't let me edit my chapters, and today I found a way to bypass it! All bypassing credit goes to **Effiron** xD He/She is the best :D

But anyways! Let's move on shall we?

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!**

A huge and supa thank you to **amaranteotaku**, **MARSHMELLOWS**, **littlewarrior911**, and **Angelfang** for the reviews! You guys are so awesome! I love you! :D

* * *

Chapter 14: Math and BS

A month had passed now, and Kagami had been living her two lives in Konoha. It was a little difficult, but she was able to manage. For the most part.

Mask on, Ookami would train with Shun at the ANBU headquarters early in the mornings until the afternoon or late afternoon. The rest of the day she had to herself, unless she had extra training. Sometimes she had the mornings off, and she would have to train at night. Sometimes, she would have the whole day off, if she earned it, or if Shun was feeling lazy.

Mask off, Kagami would walk around the village with Naruto and play games with him. Sometimes, they would lay on a hill of grass and watch the sunset. He would talk about his demon fox, and she would talk about her wolf spirit.

There were other kids in the village too, but for some reason, they wouldn't come near Naruto. Kagami wanted to be friends with them, and it seemed like they wanted to be friends with her as well, but since she and Naruto always stuck together, the other kids wouldn't come near _her_. Oh well.

But overall, life was…good. It _could_ have been worse, but it wasn't. And Kagami was grateful for that.

She thought she was was for one reason. She thought she was living for one reason. To live on her for family.

But she was mistaken.

Without realizing it, her view of purpose had changed. Her life wasn't something obligatory. No, her life was _hers_ to live.

* * *

Ookami threw her pencil down with frustration.

"This is just_ too_ hard! Why do I need to know about the Python Theorem?"

She glared at the equation with intense fury.

a^2 + b^2 = c^2

She angrily tapped an index finger against her temples. Then, abruptly pushing her chair back, causing a creaking noise against the stone floor, she stood up from her desk. Grabbing the paper with vein-popped hand, she stomped out of the study room to find Shun.

_I'm gonna make him TEACH this to me. I can't believe he just shoved the paper in front of my face and expected me to learn everything myself. And this stuff is HARD. I bet other kids my age only have to do multiplication tables!_

* * *

Iruka eyed his napping student.

"Naruto! What is two times two?" he barked from behind his podium.

The blond boy snapped his head up, then broke into a sweat, realizing what sort of a situation he was in.

"Um…um…um…three?"

The class laughed at him, and Iruka sighed.

Crossing his arms, Naruto turned his head and stuck his chin out. He "hmphed," then kicked Sasuke's leg underneath the desk.

"_What_, Naruto?" the Uchiha boy coldly snapped.

"What's two times two, Sasuke?" Naruto whispered demandingly.

Sasuke exhaled with annoyance. "It's four, you idiot."

Naruto's eyes widened with fire. "WHAT? But two _plus_ two is four!"

Sasuke wanted to face-palm. "You're hopeless."

"SHUT UP!"

* * *

Ookami stepped inside the ANBU lounge. Like most of the other rooms inside the building, it had gray walls, but it was wide open, and well lit from the sun outside. The floor was tiled in black and white squares, and pots of tall, green plants decorated the corners of the room. Groups of gray tables and chairs spotted the lounge, and multiple ANBU people occupied them.

There was one particular table that was playing a card game. The people sitting at the table were a few ANBU, and a distinguished man who didn't have a face mask on. His build was rather large, and he wore a black bandana on his head. There were a couple of battle scars on his face. Sitting across from this man, was Shun.

Ookami saw her sensei, and called him out.

"HEY YOU! WITH THE FACE!"

A multitude of animal masks turned toward her simultaneously. All action, and pretty much all life, instantly stopped in the room.

Everything was silent. Blank porcelain faces staring back at her.

Ookami cringed and squeaked, "Um…! I meant you with the _cat_ face…"

The whole room heartily laughed. Not at _her_, but at her silliness. After all, she was the youngest of them. She was like their little sister, and they loved to joke with her.

Everyone resumed what they were doing, and sound returned to make the lounge lively again.

Shun loudly exhaled. "Ahh, Ookami, Ookami. What're we gonna do with you?"

* * *

"So what's up?" Shun asked, laid-back. He was slightly slouching, with his elbow rested behind him on the back of his chair. His legs were crossed, right foot resting on his left knee. A hand of cards were fanned out between his fingers.

Ookami slapped the paper down onto his lap.

"This!"

Shun sat up, putting both feet on the ground and straightening his back. He set his cards facedown on the table, then took the paper in his hands.

"Let's see here. Oh…what is this?" he said, slightly confused, while glancing over the paper.

"Python Theorem. It's stupid."

"Hmm…I think I gave you the wrong paper. This is the more advanced stuff."

Ookami glared at her teacher. All of that mental suffering for nothing.

Shun continued. "And it's _not_ stupid. It's actually quite useful. It'll help you with locating an enemy's base from a certain distance, given certain points and whatnot. But you'll learn about that later."

Meanwhile, the card game at the table went on. It wasn't his turn yet, so Shun kept talking.

"And it's Py_thagorean_ Theorem, Ookami. Not Python."

The girl rolled her eyes from behind her mask. "Wow. You adults and your big words! If that's the case, then why don't you just shorten it and say…I don't know, PT? It's a lot easier."

"But…PT could mean a lot of things," her sensei reasoned.

She squinted at him. "Like what?"

One of the ANBU guys at Shun's table chuckled. "Purple thongs?"

The rest of the table erupted into howls of laughter. Except for Ookami who face-palmed, and the man with the scarred face, who didn't do anything.

One of them was laughing on the floor, while the rest of them laughed on the table or on their chairs. Shun leaned his head back as "HAHAHA"s winded through his throat.

After the guys recovered from their laugh attack, they realized that their superior had been straight-faced the entire time.

"Ibiki! How can you not laugh about this?" one asked, still holding his stomach in his arms.

"It was soooo funny! You're such a robot, Ibiki!" another said.

"Yeah, c'mon! The ladies like it when we smile," Shun added.

Ookami muttered an "Ew…"

Finally, the stone-faced man spoke. "You boys…are extremely juvenile."

"Aww, Ibiki! You're no fun!" one of the other ANBU "boys" said.

The scar-faced man named Ibiki grunted, then put down the rest of his cards on top of the pile in the middle of the table. "Four aces."

Shun snapped into alert mode, then screamed, "No way! YOU LIE! **BS**!"

Ibiki smirked, a crack in his visage. He slowly turned up his cards, one by one, and sure enough, they were all aces.

Shun's jaw dropped. Not that anyone could see, but they had a feeling that he would have that reaction anyway.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Ibiki slid the massive pile of cards towards Shun, who reluctantly added them into his hand of cards.

Ookami cocked an eyebrow.

"What does BS mean in this game?"

The table of guys looked at each other, searching for a "clean" and non-explicit answer. None of them had one, except for the guy who suggested "purple thongs" for PT earlier.

He acted cool. "You mean you didn't know it stood for 'bra size'?"

Shun turned his head toward his friend. "Tekuro, now you're just pushing it. It was funny the first time, but now just…no. And…you're such a pervert!"

"Oh, like you aren't?" the guy named Tekuro tested. He glanced at Ookami, then back at Shun. "Curse me for a thousand years if you aren't a pedophile."

A vein popped in Shun's head, then he dove over the table and tackled Tekuro, who fell backwards from his chair onto the ground. The two wrestled while Ookami tilted her head and held her chin in between an index and thumb. She talked to herself out loud.

"So it stands for 'bra size' huh? I guess these guys aren't _that_ bad. Maybe perverted, like that Tekuro guy…But at least they're not shouting 'bullshitake mushrooms'…"

The ANBU guys at the table, minus Shun, Tekuro, and Ibiki, all sweat dropped. They all had the same thought.

_So she really DID know what it meant_…

* * *

The man with the scars eyed the short girl. "Ookami, am I correct?"

"Oh! Uh…Yes, sir."

"You may call me Ibiki."

"Okay, nice to…"

Ookami paused. She hadn't exactly _met_ him. Their name exchange was rather an informal way of meeting.

"Nice to know your name!"

Ibiki nodded his head. "Ookami, would you like to learn how to play our card game?"

"Sure. What's it called, anyways?"

"BS."

"…_Oh._"

She had expected a different name. Who would name a card game 'bra size'?

Ookami asked, "Well, why don't you guys just shout out 'bra size' instead of BS? Knowing them…" she tilted her head towards Shun and Tekuro, who were still brawling it out, "It'd be funnier, wouldn't it?"

Ibiki thought for a moment, then easily answered her question.

"You mentioned earlier that us older people don't abbreviate our words. Well, we're shortening…'_bra size_'…here. Shouldn't you be glad?"

"But…it's easy to say! Why would you want to shorten that's easy to say?"

"Well…there's also…" Ibiki's eyes slid left, then right. Making an excuse on the spot, his already deep voice dropped lower, "…the issue of _women_ in our presence."

"_Ohh_…I see…" Ookami wasn't at the age where she had to wear a bra yet.

"So teach me how to play, Ibiki!"

* * *

Naruto's mouth hung open, drool suspended from his lips. He stared blankly at the clock while it ticked on for eternity.

_This is so boring_…

There was still three hours of school left, and he didn't want to be there for another second.

_I wonder if Kagami can hang out today_…_Maybe we can go for some ramen later._

The thought cheered him up. He shut his mouth, and wiped the free-hanging drool off of his face with the back of his hand. Smiling madly, his eyes crinkled as he unintentionally let out a childish chuckle. And Sasuke noticed.

"What's with the sudden change of mood?" he asked, nonchalantly.

"What Sasuke? JEALOUS? I'm just happy. That good enough for ya?"

"..."

"Anyways, it's none of your business. So don't bother asking anymore."

Sasuke ignored him by now, and focused back on his schoolwork.

Naruto beamed with pride.

_He actually talked to me. THAT'S a change._

* * *

"BRA SIZE!"

Shun growled. "Ugh, I hate you, Ookami!" He took the pile of cards and sighed.

The girl would have just stuck her tongue out and go "Phhbbttt!" at her sensei, but she had her mask on. Then she remembered something.

_Shun stuck out a foot in front of his unaware student, causing her to fall flat onto her face. He pretended to look off into some distance, while he stuck a pinky finger in his ear and twisted it around._

"_Say what?"_

"…_I hate you, sensei," the girl mumbled into the floor._

_Shun grinned. "I love you too, Kagami." _

This time, Ookami grinned.

"Love you too, Shun-sensei," she said slyly. Then, mischievously, she added, "Karma sucks, now don't it?"

Shun grumbled as he reorganized his new hand of cards, and the rest of the table chuckled. Except for Ibiki, of course.

They went around taking their turns, and the pile of cards grew again. Ibiki had four cards left.

"Ookami. Let's make my turn a test. See if you can tell whether or not I'm lying."

The girl smiled devilishly. "_Challenge accepted._"

Ibiki lay his four cards face down on the pile. "Four kings."

Ookami furrowed her brows, then the all-knowing light had hit her and revealed the path of truth.

She stood up from her chair, slamming down one hand on the table, and pointing at Ibiki with the other.

"YOUR NOSE GOT FAT! BRA SIZE!"

Everyone at the table looked at the girl with a Did-you-just-say-his-_nose_-_got_-_fat_? face.

Ibiki looked at her with an amused expression. "Did you mean I flared my nostrils?" he corrected.

He began to flip over his four cards he had just lay down. All of them were kings.

Ookami waved angry fists in the air.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Ibiki smirked. "You have good observation skills. But in the end, you're just like your teacher."

"What's the point if I can't win?" she wailed, the mountain of cards looming over her. "And I'm _not _like _him_! "

Shun chuckled. "What, you don't wanna be like me? But I'm the most awesome and coolest person you'll ever know!"

The girl scoffed, "BS."

The ANBU guys went "Oooooh, burn!" in sync. They all laughed together afterwards. Except for Ibiki. But at least he had a small smile on his face.

* * *

Finally, it was the end of the day, for both Kagami and Naruto. Her ANBU session was over, and school was out for him. Hangout time!

Kagami had gotten out after Naruto, so when they met at the tree with the swing, none of the other kids were around. They gave each other a friendly wave.

"Hey, Kagami!"

"Hi, Naruto!"

"How's it been?"

"Pretty interesting, actually! What about you?"

"Ehh…boring as usual."

"Oh, school not doing it for ya, huh?"

"Yeah, but whatever. Hey, you wanna go get some ramen? I'm starving!"

"Oooh, sure!"

* * *

It was late afternoon, and the two friends were happily slurping away at their ramen.

Kagami sighed happily, "Mmm, I could eat this everyday."

"I eat this everyday."

The girl raised an eyebrow at Naruto, then grinned. "Oh really?"

"Mhm! Cup 'f noodleshh fo' breakfashht erey mo-ing wivf milk," he replied, mouth full of noodles.

"Wow...I never imagined someone would do that for breakfast everyday. I guess it's quicker and easier that way. I just eat fruit and some rice."

Naruto gulped down more noodles. "HEALTH FREAK!"

"HA! At least I'll be a better ninja than you!"

"Just 'cause you're healthier? That's what you think!"

"Okay then, how 'bout this? If I rebuild my village first, then I win! But if you become Hokage first, then you win!"

Naruto lifted his head from his bowl. He had all attention focused on her now.

"Hokage, eh?"

His dream from the very beginning was the be Hokage. And now, it was a race with his best friend. He was in a competition now, and he wasn't about to lose.

"You're on!"

"Let's shake!"

The two friends pumped out two solid shakes, grinning at each other.

"Just you watch, Kagami! I'll be Hokage in no time!"

"We'll see!"

* * *

The sun was beginning to set, and golden-orange light flowed around the village. Kagami and Naruto had finished their five bowls of ramen (each), and were about to go home on their separate ways. Until…

"Hey, Naruto, wanna come over and play a card game?"

"A card game? Sure, sounds like fun! What's it called?"

"Bra size. People call it BS for short, but I call it bra size. I learned it when I trained at A-…"

Kagami caught herself before she spilled the beans.

"Well, you know."

Naruto smiled and winked. "I gotcha."

The beans were saved...but some of the sauce dripped over.

* * *

_Alone...darkness...hatred..._

Hands in his pocket, head down, the boy trudged home. It was his routine everyday. Wake up, eat, go to school, go home, eat, go train, go home, eat, sleep. Every. Single. Day.

He couldn't get distracted. Not by girls, not by Naruto, not by anyone. He wouldn't let himself get carried away from his one goal.

To kill Itachi Uchiha.

Everyday he felt his heart shrink just a little more, and he felt a blackness spread through every vein of his body. Whether or not he liked it, he was an avenger, and he would carry out his destined role.

On the way home, he passed by Ichiraku Ramen. He walked a parallel distance away from the shop, not wanting to run into Naruto. But then something caught his eye. Or actually, I should say ear.

"Hey, Naruto, wanna come over and play a card game?"

Sasuke turn his head to search for the owner of the voice. It was a girl's voice, and it sounded strangely familiar.

There was a tree in the way, blocking his view from the person who he wanted to see. But slightly to the left of the tree, he saw tufts of blonde hair. Naruto.

"A card game? Sure, sounds like fun! What's it called?"

Then the familiar voice spoke again.

"Bra size. People call it BS for short, but I call it bra size. I learned it when I trained at A-…"

_A-? A- what?_

Sasuke cautiously and slowly sneaked his way over to see who Naruto was talking with.

Her voice again. "Well, you know."

Naruto smiled and winked. "I gotcha."

_What?_

He hid behind a bush, peering through the space between the leaves and branches. But he was too late. All he saw now were the backs of two running kids. One, he obviously knew was Naruto. The other, all he could see was her white hair like a ribboned kite, flying behind her.

* * *

"One seven."

"BRA SIZE!"

Naruto sighed. "How'd you know? It was only one card!"

"Well, I have four sevens here, so obviously you're lying. Take the cards."

The boy sadly took the pile and placed them in his hand. "Your turn."

"Hmm…one eight."

"BS!"

Kagami was outraged. "WHAT? HOW'D YOU KNOW?"

"I have all the eights."

"What? That's weird." She scrunched her face. "Well, it's okay though. I just get that card back."

"Okay then. Two nines."

"Three tens."

"Four jacks."

"One queen."

Naruto smiled. "BS!"

"Oh my _gosh_!" She cupped the pile of cards into her hands and reorganized them. Then she realized something. "Okay wait, this isn't getting anywhere. We've been playing for the past three hours, and neither of us has won yet! Why isn't this working?"

Naruto shrugged. "Maybe…we're playing it wrong?"

"But Ibiki taught it to me today! I'm and pretty darn sure that it's played this way. I don't know why it's taking us so long though!"

Poor kids. Little did they know that to play BS "correctly," they needed at least one more person.

Hmm, now who could _that _be?

* * *

WHEEEE! Muaha I had fun writing that chapter :P

Hope you all enjoyed reading it!

And I apologize again for the late update :/ Silly Error Type 2 stuffs.

Stay tuned for the next chapter! And stay awesome with the reviews :D


	15. Chapter 15

GUYSSSSS I'M SOOOOOO SORRY! I've been procrastinating, even though writing stories is one of the most important things to me T_T But, I now have a new chapter! So if you can find the kindness in your hearts to forgive me for not updating when I was supposed to, I will be forever grateful…^^

It's a bit strange getting back into the roll of things…because I forgot what I was going to do next. Oh yes.

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO.**

And a big shout out to **Thekidwhoplayedwithfire** and **Angelfang.** You guys are great. Thank you soooo much for the reviews!

NOW ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

Chapter 15: Mixed-Up

…_Where am I?_

A sudden flash of white blinded my eyes. Unlike its unexpected arrival, the brightness slowly faded away, and my vision cleared. Then the next thing that happened…

_Whose office is this? Because it's not the Hokage's_…

Or…it _was_ an office that I was in…right?

It had a desk, towering piles of papers stood on it. There was the I-am-the-boss-here chair behind the desk. A bookshelf stood in a corner, and next to it was a file cabinet.

_Well I'm certainly not in a kitchen._

Cautiously, I walked over to one of the windows. I latched my fingers onto the side of the panel, and slid the window open.

I held my breath. _What's gonna be outside?_

"Wow…"

Wherever I was, this place was one of the most beautiful villages I have ever seen. The people were smiling, going about their day. The shops and bars were loaded with good products and good people. The children were laughing, excitedly chasing each other around in a game of ninja tag. Even the stray dogs looked healthy.

It was the normal everyday scenery that you could expect from any village. But here…everybody looked so…happy.

"Good morning, Lady Kagami!"

…_Eh?_

The voice belonged to a young, little girl in high pigtails. She waved at me excitedly with one hand, and held onto her mother's hand with the other.

"G-good morning!" I awkwardly called out.

_I wonder why she called me "Lady" Kagami?_…_She must be seriously mistaken about who I am. I'm probably the same age as sh-_

Then I realized something.

I abruptly spun around then squatted below the window. Pressing my back against the wall, I dug my fingers into my hair and grasped it.

_WAIT! Something's not right. Why did I think she was "young" and "little" earlier? If I thought that, then that must mean_…

Without waiting for another second to pass me by, I quickly stood up and formed a few hand signs to summon a mirror. The moment it appeared in front of me…

"HOLY SHIT-!"

* * *

A man with red hair briskly turned his head towards the echoing sound.

"-AKE MUSHROOMS!"

Worry crawled onto his face.

"Kagami!"

* * *

I couldn't believe it. I just…couldn't believe it.

My eyes widened in horror as I stared at my reflection.

I mean, any other girl would have been amazed and admire the glamour of _their _reflection. Me? No.

"I HAVE BOOBS? SINCE WHEN?"

Seriously. What the crap.

The next thing I noticed was that I was taller. Taller, and…grown up. I even lost all of my baby fat. Yes…I had chubby cheeks when I was younger. Whenever the heck that was.

Then I saw that I was wearing robes. And they weren't just any robes. They looked…so formal! Why was I wearing these? Where was my ANBU uniform?

_Geez_…_what's going on?_

Last time I checked, I was ten years old. Now…I look like I'm sixteen, seventeen? THAT'S SIX YEARS! SEVEN YEARS!

Was there some sort of time lapse that I was not aware of? Thanks, guys. For not filling me in on what happened.

Oh? Oh, really? You _don't_ know what happened?

LIES! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

No! Don't look at me like that! You should be ashamed of yourselves.

"Kagami! Are you alright?"

Confused, startled, and shocked, I turned to see who it was. The voice came from a man with red hair.

My eyes widened even more. "SHU-MMMMM BLAHEBEDAHUM….!"

I thought he was Shun, because of his red hair, but Shun does _not_ have extremely light blue eyes. _Or_ surprisingly black and bold rings around those eyes. _Or_ an abnormally large gourd strapped onto his back.

And as flabbergasted and stupefied as I was, I knew one thing for sure.

Shun was _not _the Kazekage.

* * *

With my mouth hung open, I stared at the red-headed man who wore the long robes of a kage. He held his hat that said "Wind" in one of his hands. There was an anxious look in his eyes. His icy blue eyes.

_He must of heard me when I _screamed…

"I uh…"

_I have no idea what's going on, and here I am, looking like an idiot_, _in front of the Kazekage! Not only that_…_how does he know my name?_

Then I remembered he asked me a question. The "Are-you-alright?" question that always has the most obvious answer, but we always say the opposite of how it is.

I wanted to screech "**NOOOO! **DO I _LOOK_ ALRIGHT?" But he was the Kazekage. So this was a completely different case.

Am I alright?

Well, I just found out that I have absolutely no recollection for six to seven years of my life. And that I have boobs.

No. I am _not _alright.

After what seemed like a lifetime plus eternity, I awkwardly smiled, crinkling my eyes, and peeped, "Peachy! I'm…JUST…_peachy_."

The man slightly turned his head, as if he were asking "…Are you sure?" I think he was looking for some sort of explanation as to why I yelled earlier.

Embarrassed, I quietly answered, "Ah…I'm sorry. I uh…looked in the mirror. And I just realized that…"

_Okay_…_what am I gonna say? I'm so screwed on this one_…

But miraculously, words found their way to my mouth.

"…I just realized thatmy clothes have a hole in an inappropriate spot, and that it would be extremely impolite to go around and show my behind when the Kazekage is present."

I wanted to slap myself.

_What the heck did I just say? REALLY KAGAMI? REALLY? I don't even HAVE a hole in my clothes! I just outright lied to the Kazekage's face! And it wasn't even a good lie! IT WAS A __**LAME**__ LIE! This is so embarrassing_…_what am I even doing here?_…

Imagine every negative feeling in the world. Now add all of those up, and multiply them by hell. That is exactly how I am feeling now.

I couldn't bring myself to look at the Kazekage, after all that had just happened. My gaze averted to the walls that snickered at me.

He chuckled.

…_Wha-?_

Now was the first time I took notice of the warm coarseness of his voice. It was like…sand.

"You get so worked up about the smallest things. It's kind of cute."

_Did the Kazekage just say something was "cute"? Oh yes! That dog over there, right? Yes, Kazekage! I agree with you. That dog over there is very cute. Very cute indeed!_

I blinked.

_No, Kagami. You heard him. He was talking about YOU when he said "cute." Got it? No? Okay_…_got it now? Yes? Okay. We're good! _

The Kazekage had a small, but genuine smile on his face. He shook his head, still smiling.

"You're silly," he chuckled. He walked towards me, and said, "Let's see that hole."

I don't know how wide my eyes were opened, but now I felt like my eyelids would sag if I widened them anymore.

I immediately made an X with my arms and walked backwards straight into a wall.

"HO! Kazekage! You _do_ remember what I said about "inappropriate spot" earlier, right? Because…because I'm not joking!" _Well actually, I'm lying, but this is all an act, but I need to figure out what's going on, and the Kazekage is NOT about to find out that I lied, and he is NOT going to look at my COVERED butt. _"See, if I had a hole where my arm was, or my leg, bottom part of my leg, or my…my foot! I would gladly show you. But this is my _behind _that we're talking about here, Lord Kazekage!"

_WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY? WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? Does he think we're FRIENDS or something? No, not even! DO FRIENDS LOOK AT EACH OTHER'S BUTTS? I DON'T THINK SO! _

Praise everything good and holy, because the Kazekage had stopped walking towards me. However, his body was only a foot from mine. Awkward much? I think yes.

He was still smiling. It wasn't exactly _creepy_, but I couldn't call it _sweet_ either.

"Kagami, you look a little dazed," he laughed softly.

_WELL! I don't know about you, but the a Kazekage doesn't ask to look at my BUTT everyday, now don't he?_

I tried to smile as nicely as I could, and replied, " Ah…I've had a lot on my mind."

_A whole CURSED lot!_

He smiled, "Well, I don't blame you. After all, I imagine that it's hard work being the lady of Hikunakure, hm?"

My jaw dropped. I immediately closed it afterward.

_Did he_…_did he just_…_did he just say that I_…_I'm the_…_?_

The lady of Hikunakure. Lady Kagami. That's…who I am. Apparently. But…that explains…_a lot_.

"Since you have that hole in your robe, I'll go to your house and bring back another set," he told me.

I wanted to make the most absurd face ever.

_How does he know where I live?_

"O-okay. Thank you!" I managed to squeak.

He chuckled, "You stay here and save yourself from embarrassment then. I'll be back."

The man turned his head to look behind him out the office door. It looked like he was…checking for something?

Then he did something…out of the ordinary. Well heck, wasn't everything already out of the ordinary?

He turned back to look at me, then lowered his head. The next thing I knew, his lips were gently pressed against mine.

_W-wow_…_wow_…

His eyes were closed, but mine were wide open. There's really no word that could express what I was feeling. It wasn't a bad feeling though. Not a bad feeling at all…

The red-headed man pulled back, then leaned his forehead against mine. He had that small smile on his face again.

"I'm glad I can be with you, Kagami."

I realized that his hand had reached over to hold mine. I felt as if all the loneliness in the world had been swept away.

He smiled, and kissed me again on the forehead.

"I'll be back soon. Make sure you don't let anyone see your behind," he quirked softly.

He turned and walked out through the door, his robes billowing behind him like curtains dancing in the wind.

_No…Wait…_

"…W-wait! Hold on!" I called out.

_I know he's the Kazekage_…_but_…_what just happened? He kissed me_…_and_…_and_…_I don't even know his name!_

"_I'll be back," _his voice echoed. His warm, sandy voice. _"I'll be back_…_"_

I pushed myself from the wall and reached my hand out.

"Wait! Don't go! Please, wait!"

"_I'll be back_…_I'll be back_…_"_

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAIT!"

I gasped and shot up from my bed. Breathing heavily, I clutched onto the bedsheets. My eyes felt strained, and my whole body was in a cold sweat.

_It_…_it was only a dream_…_? Oh geez_…

I flopped back onto my bed and took a deep breath. I put both hands on my chest to make sure everything was really back to normal.

_No lumps. Okay we're good to go._

…But seriously, what was that all about?

My mind drifted away, and my eyes closed.

_I didn't even know his name_…

* * *

AND BOOM! We have the fifteenth chapter.

Hope you liked it! It was an interesting chapter for me to write _ I hope it was interesting for you to read :P

Ahh...I can't exactly say I can update within a week. I'm getting ready for AP testing, SATs, and I have a few presentations and tests to study for _ So please, bare with me. I will be really thankful ^^

And thank you to all who have been reading. It's really great to know that you guys are walking with me in the story and cheering me on.

So until next time, FAREWELL!


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